PRIME MINISTER

House of Lords Appointments Commission

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Prime Minister when he last met Lord Stevenson to discuss the work of the House of Lords Appointments Commission.

Tony Blair: I have regular meetings with a wide range of organisations and individuals on a wide range of subjects. As with previous administrations, it is not my practice to provide details of confidential discussions, under exemption 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Iraq

Graham Allen: To ask the Prime Minister what proposals he has made to President Bush for (a) the return of UN weapons inspectors to Iraq and (b) for other means of international verification of future discoveries of Saddam Hussein's alleged stocks of weapons of mass destruction; and what reply he received.

Tony Blair: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave the right hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Inverness West (Mr. Kennedy) at Prime Minister's questions on 14 May 2003, Official Report, column 307.

Iraq

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Prime Minister whether he invited the then Secretary of State for International Development to comment in writing on the draft UN Resolution on Iraq, tabled by the UK and USA, before 8 May.

Tony Blair: As with previous Governments, it is not my practice to provide details of confidential discussions, under Exemption 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Police Recruitment

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many applications were received from (a) Roman Catholics and (b) Protestants for the most recent recruitment intake to the Police Service for Northern Ireland; and how many (i) Roman Catholic and (ii) Protestant applicants have been accepted for recruitment to the PSNI in this intake.

Jane Kennedy: Application and appointment numbers to date from the Police Service of Northern Ireland's recruitment competitions 3 and 4 are as follows.
	
		
			  Protestant Roman Catholic Non-determined Total 
		
		
			 Competition 3 
			 Applications 2,971 1,640 63 4,674 
			 Appointments 79 83 0 162 
			  
			 Competition 4 
			 Applications 2,817 1,477 74 4,368 
			 Appointments 30 37 0 68 
		
	
	Further appointments remain to be made from both Competitions 3 and 4.
	Competition 5 was launched in March 2003, and has attracted over 6,000 applicants, of whom 36.6 per cent. are Catholic. The selection process is ongoing, and appointments will not commence until the autumn.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Benefits Payment

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the future take-up of direct payment of benefits in (a) 2003–04, (b) 2004–05 and (c) 2005–06.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 15 May 2003
	The huge numbers of customers involved in the conversion process mean the changes will be phased over a two-year period which started earlier in 2003.
	We have a published target in our public service agreement to pay 85 per cent. of customers by Direct Payment by 2005.

DEFENCE

Export Licences

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what undertakings the US has given on waiving bilateral export licensing requirements for unclassified information for exports to the UK.

Adam Ingram: The United Kingdom and United States Governments are in the process of negotiating a waiver from the US International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). This would provide for export licensing requirements to be waived in the case of certain unclassified defence items and technical data to Her Majesty's Government and qualified companies in the UK.
	We look forward to the successful conclusion of the agreement.

Illegal Arms Supply

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what criteria are used in assessing whether a country is likely to be a conduit for arms supply to banned countries.

Jack Straw: I have been asked to reply.
	The risk of diversion of strategically controlled goods, to a third country is considered at the time of application for a licence, when this possibility is considered against Criterion 7 of the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. Criterion 7 addresses the existence of a risk that the equipment will be diverted within the buyer country or re-exported under undesirable conditions and includes consideration of the capability of the recipient country to exert effective export controls.

Afghanistan

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the continued existence of terrorist networks in the regions of Afghanistan outside the control of the International Security Assistance Force; and what counter-measures his Department is taking to address this.

Adam Ingram: Al-Qaeda continues to pose a threat both to Afghanistan and more widely, despite considerable success against their leaders and operations. The United Kingdom remains committed to assisting President Karzai's Government in building a strong, independent Afghanistan committed to eradicating terrorism. The Security Sector Reform programme aims to bring lasting stability to all the Afghan people through building up the capabilities of the Afghans to ensure their own country's security and stability. I refer the hon. Member to the statement my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence made on 8 May 2003, Official Report, columns 38–40WS, regarding the UK leadership of a Provincial Reconstruction Team.

Afghanistan

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what steps his Department is taking to improve the stability of the regions of Afghanistan outside Kabul and its immediate environs;
	(2)  what plans he has to extend the peacekeeping duties of British forces in Afghanistan beyond Kabul and the surrounding areas.

Adam Ingram: British forces in Afghanistan are not engaged in peacekeeping duties although they do contribute towards the International Security Assistance Force; there are no plans to expand the remit of the force beyond Kabul. I refer the hon. Member to the written statement given to the House on 8 May 2003, Official Report, columns 38–40WS, regarding Provincial Reconstruction Teams.

Antonov

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on how many occasions the MoD has chartered civilian Antonov An-124s in each month in the past two years.

Adam Ingram: Antonov An-124s were chartered in the following months and numbers during the last two financial years:
	
		
			 Month/Year Number 
		
		
			 October 2001 16 
			 December 2001 4 
			 January 2002 20 
			 February 2002 26 
			 March 2002 20 
			 April 2002 32 
			 May 2002 4 
			 June 2002 8 
			 July 2002 18 
			 August 2002 9 
			 October 2002 3 
			 November 2002 1 
			 January 2003 9 
			 February 2003 56 
			 March 2003 36

Armed Forces (Operational Duty)

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of the (a) Army, (b) air force and (c) Navy was on operational duty at the start of each month since April 2001.

Adam Ingram: Data on personnel deployed on operations and other Military Tasks is collected on a quarterly basis as part of the Ministry of Defence's performance management process. Percentage figures for each quarter since April 2001 are shown as follows. These figures do not include personnel preparing for operations, recovering from operations or engaged in training. Information for the last quarter of 2002–03 is still in the course of compilation and the figures are provisional.
	
		Percentage of trained strength deployed on operations and other military tasks
		
			  Service 
			  Army Navy (including Marines) RAF 
		
		
			 2001–02
			 April-June 21.8 9.5 11.9 
			 July-September 25.6 8.4 12.7 
			 October-December 26.3 16.7 16.7 
			 January-March 23.9 15.7 13.1 
			 
			 2002–03
			 April-June 24.6 17.5 12.6 
			 July-September 23.9 13 10.9 
			 October-December 32.5 16.5 19.1 
			 January-March 55.6 28.5 21.8

Armilla Patrol

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for the commitment of Royal Navy warships and personnel to the Gulf region; if the Armilla patrol will continue; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence's two Written Ministerial Statements on Iraq Force Level Adjustments of 11 April 2003, Official Report, columns 38–39WS and 30 April 2003, Official Report, columns 15–16WS. Royal Naval force levels in the Gulf region will remain under review.

Bowman Communication System

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he intends that MRAV and ETS will be fitted with (a) Bowman and (b) Clansman radio systems.

Adam Ingram: Our intention is to provide Bowman capability on all the armoured vehicle platforms we are planning to bring into service.

Brimstone Weapon

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date he expects the Brimstone air-launched anti-armour weapon to be in service.

Adam Ingram: The entry into service of the Brimstone, air launched anti-armour weapon has been delayed because of technical factors that have emerged during the development and trials of the missile and its production. A revised date is currently under review.

Cluster Munitions

Parmjit Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the UK armed forces' use of cluster bombs in military operations.

Adam Ingram: Cluster bombs are a legitimate weapon that provide a capability against certain targets, in particular targets that cover an area, which cannot be effectively achieved in other ways. United Kingdom armed forces always use them strictly in accordance with the provisions of international law.

Cluster Munitions

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had regarding extending the ban on anti-personnel mines to cover cluster munitions.

Adam Ingram: None.

Defence Budget

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) provision and (b) outturn for the defence budget was, in cash terms, broken down by (i) Vote and (ii) Request for Resources in each year since 1997–98.

Adam Ingram: The figures for each year from 1997–98 to 2000–01 are set out in the table below. From 2001–02 onwards the Defence budget was set on a Resource basis, which includes accruals, rather than cash. The figures for 2001–02 have not been included therefore, as they are not directly comparable to those for earlier years.
	
		£000
		
			  Provision Outturn 
		
		
			 1997–98(1)   
			 Vote 1 Operational and Support Costs 10,145,387 10,068,343 
			 Vote 2 Logistic Services 4,806,638 4,697,410 
			 Vote 3 Systems Procurement and Research 6,353,598 6,150,142 
			 Vote 4 Armed Forces retired pay, pensions etc 1,121,776 1,126,210 
			 1998–99(1)   
			 Vote 1 Operational and Support Costs 10,885,792 10,922,188 
			 Vote 2 Logistic Services 5,027,211 5,027,921 
			 Vote 3 Systems Procurement and Research 6,856,926 6,526,112 
			 Vote 4 Armed Forces retired pay, pensions etc 1,191,454 1,169,138 
			 1999–2000(1)   
			 Vote 1 Operational and Support Costs, Logistic Services and Systems Procurement and Research 22,866,888 22,549,260 
			 Vote 2 Armed Forces retired pay, pensions etc. 1,270,091 1,262,289 
			 2000–01(1)   
			 Vote 1 Operational and Support Costs, Logistic Services and Systems Procurement and Research 23,609,631 23,537,721 
			 Vote 2 Armed Forces retired pay, pensions etc. 1,342,195 1,267,002 
		
	
	(1) Source:
	Appropriation Accounts
	(2) I will write separately with the information for 2001–02 giving a full explanation of the components of the provision and outturn figures introduced with Resource Accounting and Budgeting and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Defence Logistics Organisation

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what departmental savings have been achieved by the Defence Logistical Organisation; and whether they have met the funding assumptions of the Strategic Defence Review.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 13 May 2003
	Savings achieved by the Defence Logistics Organisation are recorded against its overall efficiency target to reduce the costs of its outputs by 20 per cent. by March 2006. Details of the DLO's performance against its strategic goal to March 2002 are contained in my answer on 15 January 2003, Official Report, column 634W, to the hon. Member for Newark (Patrick Mercer). Subject to final validation, it is estimated that a farther 2 per cent. efficiency savings have been achieved in 2002–03.
	The strategic defence review placed several targets on the newly formed Defence Logistics Organisation. The targets shown as follows, for which there were identified financial savings, have been achieved.
	20 per cent. (GBV 98 Baseline) stock reduction by 2001–02,
	Reduction in spares provision of £115 million per annum by 2001–02
	Other on-going targets have been subsumed within the DLO's overall efficiency target.

Defence Logistics Organisation

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how long the Defence Logistics Organisation needs to deploy fully equipment to forces once they are in-theatre.

Adam Ingram: The onward movement of equipment within a theatre of operations is the responsibility of the local military commander. Equipment and supplies are delivered to units in accordance with the military priority at the time and the overall delivery time will depend on a number of factors. These include the distance between the port or holding area and the receiving unit, the condition of local infrastructure, and whether the environment is hostile or benign. Delivery times will, therefore, vary from case to case.

Defence Vetting Agency

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list (a) the unit cost of vetting individuals by the Defence Vetting Agency and (b) the estimated cost of vetting individuals through a private contractor; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The unit costs of vetting individuals for the main types of vetting clearances are as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 Counter Terrorist Check (CTC) 27 
			 Security Check (SC) 34 
			 Developed Vetting (DV) Initial 1,101 
			 Developed Vetting (DV) Review 672 
		
	
	These are the average costs, and are based on the last full Defence Vetting Agency Annual Accounts (2001–02). They exclude Security Service costs, of which the Ministry of Defence has no visibility.
	The estimated costs of vetting individuals through a private contractor have not been considered. The proposal to create the Defence Vetting Agency was subjected to a prior options study, which involved the various stakeholders, including the Security Service. The study reached the conclusion that personnel security vetting was a core MOD function. This view is subject to the Quinquennial Review (now Business Review) process. A Business Review of the Defence Vetting Agency is currently under way, and will consider whether vetting could be provided by other means.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Frank Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the current war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Adam Ingram: The United Kingdom is actively engaged with our African, EU and UN partners in promoting a peaceful resolution to the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Government have supported the implementation of both the Lusaka Peace Agreement and the Pretoria Agreement of July 2002 as providing the most viable way forward.
	We welcome the agreement signed last month in Sun City on the establishment of a transitional government with a view to democratic elections in two years time and will play our part as a member of the International Support Committee tasked with supporting the transitional process in DR Congo. We are concerned at reports of fighting in the North East of the country and look to all parties to abide by UNSCR 1468 and honour their commitments under the Lusaka Agreement.

Discarded Military Equipment

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had on clearing up and removal of discarded military equipment; what financial resources he has to do this work; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: United Kingdom forces have destroyed some caches of weaponry discarded by the Iraqi military. A nationwide systematic process of disarmament and decommissioning will be a matter for a new Iraqi government, drawing on the expertise of the international community and organisations like the UN.

E-Government Projects

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list by project the consultancies his Department and its non-departmental public bodies have used on e-government projects since 1 January 2001.

Lewis Moonie: As it will take some time for the information requested to be collated, I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Eurofighter

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of total UK expenditure on (a) research and development for and (b) the production of the Eurofighter has been spent in Wales.[Transferred]

Adam Ingram: holding answer 13 May 2003
	Payment arrangements for Eurofighter Typhoon are managed by the prime contractors. The Ministry of Defence does not have visibility of the geographical allocation of work (and hence expenditure) within the United Kingdom.

Eurofighter

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had regarding a change in the UK's purchase of Eurofighter Typhoons from 232 machines.

Adam Ingram: We keep the size and shape of the forward equipment programme under constant review. Our commitment to the Typhoon programme remains undiminished.

Eurofighter

Andrew Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures the Government is taking to ensure that the (a) cost of weapons integration and (b) benefits of inter-operability in the Eurofighter Typhoon project are shared equitably between the participating countries.

Adam Ingram: The cost of weapons integration is shared between the countries electing to fit those weapons under arrangements set out in Memoranda of Understanding between the participating countries.
	Typhoon is designed to be interoperable with all the participating countries' air forces and each country will have both common and non-common weaponry requirements to meet their individual needs. Commonality of software and hardware will benefit the air forces when the aircraft are deployed and makes it cheaper and quicker to adopt, at a later stage, weapons that are in use with other
	participating countries.

Eurofighter

Michael Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft the Government intends to purchase; when the order for tranche 2 will be placed; and what progress is being made on the development of a ground attack version of the aircraft.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 8 May 2003
	Under the four nation memoranda of understanding, the United Kingdom has undertaken to acquire 232 aircraft out of a total production of 620. We expect that the four partner nations will place the order for Tranche 2 aircraft, of which the UK share is 89, later this year. Typhoon aircraft are planned progressively to incorporate ground attack capabilities and early aircraft are planned to be upgraded through a retro-fit programme.

Falkland Islands

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what Royal Navy warships are on station at the Falkland Islands; and what Royal Fleet Auxiliary support is available.

Adam Ingram: The Falkland Island Patrol Vessel, HMS Leeds Castle, is currently on station providing a permanent Royal Navy presence in and around the Falkland Islands Area of Responsibility (FIAOR). The Atlantic Patrol Task (South) (APT(S)) tanker, RFA Gold Rover, is scheduled to deploy to the South Atlantic in early May 2003 while the APT(S) duty ship, HMS Lancaster, is scheduled to deploy in early July 2003.

Far East Naval Deployment

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which vessels will continue with the Naval Task Group 03 deployment to the Far East.

Adam Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the written statement by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence on 11 April 2003, Official Report, columns 38–39WS, concerning the redeployment of HMS Marlborough and HMS Liverpool, together with RFA Grey Rover, from operations in the Gulf to the Far East. These ships constitute a reduced Naval Task Group (NTG) 03. Both HMS Marlborough and HMS Liverpool were part of the original NTG 03 deployment before being called upon, with the rest of the Task Group, for contingent operations in support of Operation TELIC.

Gibraltar

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans there are for the use of the Gibraltar base in potential future conflicts and peacekeeping operations.

Adam Ingram: Gibraltar has been and continues to be an important overseas base for the British armed forces. It contains valuable support, logistic, communications and training facilities, which will be used for future missions as appropriate.

Guided Multiple Rocket Launch System

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the (a) forecast in-service date, (b) forecast date of main gate approval and (c) forecast cost of the assessment phase of the GMLRS; and how many rockets will be procured.

Adam Ingram: The in service date for the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) will not be set until the project receives its main investment approval to proceed to development and manufacture (Main Gate), but current estimates are that the capability will become available in the second half of this decade; the project is due for Main Gate consideration later this year.
	Initial approval of GMLRS pre-dates the SMART acquisition process. The United Kingdom participated in a United States led Engineering Manufacture and Development Programme which was of a greater scope than an assessment phase; the cost of the UK's participation in this phase was around £20 million.
	The number of rockets to be procured will be in the region of 5,000; the actual number will be subject to approval at Main Gate.

Hercules

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on centre-of-gravity problems with the RAF's short-fuselage C-130J Hercules C5 aircraft.

Adam Ingram: The centre of gravity for all transport aircraft has to be managed carefully to ensure that aircraft remain within safe operating parameters.
	The Hercules C-130J Mk5 is cleared for use in accordance with the Military Airworthiness Release and Release to Service, which detail the limitations and configurations of the aircraft operation. The centre-of-gravity of the Mk5 is a known limiting factor on certain aircraft configurations and is overcome by the use of ballast.

Hercules

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what reports he has received of squadron pilots refusing to fly the RAF's short-fuselage C-130J Hercules C5 aircraft in certain operational configurations owing to concerns over centre-of-gravity problems.

Adam Ingram: None.

Hercules

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the fleet utilisation of the RAF's short-fuselage C-130J Hercules C5 aircraft was in the last 12 months; and what the utilisation was of (a) the long-fuselage Hercules C4 fleet and (b) the remaining C-130K variants.

Adam Ingram: Fleet utilisation is not a term in common usage within the RAF. Officials have therefore interpreted this to be the average number of hours flown over the last 12 months per aircraft for each Hercules type.
	
		
			 Aircraft Type Average hours flown per aircraft 
		
		
			 Hercules C-130J C5 (short-fuselage) 436.50 
			 Hercules C-130J C4 (long-fuselage) 1,033.93 
			 Hercules C-13 OK Cl 508.80 
			 Hercules C-13 OK C3 807.20

Hercules

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the future of the RAF's fleet of short-fuselage C-130J Hercules C5 aircraft.

Adam Ingram: The Hercules C-130J Mk 5 aircraft came into service with the RAF in 2000 and forms part of the combined Hercules C-130J and C-130K fleet. The Hercules fleet provides a strategic lift capability for the RAF and it is currently planned that the C-130J Mk 5 will have a service life well into the present century.

Hercules

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many hours have been flown in each of the last 12 months by (a) the RAF's short-fuselage C-130J Hercules C5 aircraft, (b) the long-fuselage Hercules C4s and (c) C-130K Hercules variants.

Adam Ingram: The following table shows the number of flying hours achieved for each Hercules aircraft type over the last 12 months:
	
		
			  Total hours flown per month by each aircraft type 
			 Aircraft type/number of aircraft April May June July August September October 
		
		
			 C5(J)/10 290 377 401 301 384 476 320 
			 C4(J)/15 1,045 886 1,039 1,355 1,252 1,332 1,237 
			 C3(K)/20 2,131 1,654 1,492 1,237 1,101 1,424 1,546 
			 C1(K)/5 318 264 487 127 200 373 58 
		
	
	
		
			  Total hours flown per month by each aircraft type 
			 Aircraft type/number of aircraft November December January February March Total flying hours 
		
		
			 C5(J)/10 254 194 409 325 634 4,365 
			 C4(J)/15 1,177 1,098 1,379 2,112 1,597 15,509 
			 C3(K)/20 1,215 1,051 1,021 1,059 1,213 16,144 
			 C1(K)/5 36 141 218 121 201 2,544 
			 Total Hercules flying hours during last 12 months 38,562 
		
	
	Source:
	Strike Command Monthly summary of statistics

HMS Victory

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what additional work is taking place to allow HMS Victory to play a role in the 200th Anniversary of Trafalgar; and what the cost is.

Lewis Moonie: No specific work is being carried out on HMS Victory to support the Commemoration of the 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar in 2005 and therefore no funding has been identified or allocated.

Infantry Tours

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which infantry regiments have had a 24-month tour interval in the past five years.

Adam Ingram: Of the 40 Infantry Battalions, the 29 Battalions listed as follows are expected to achieve at least one 24 month tour interval between deployments in the period January 1999 to December 2003. Deployments have been defined as unaccompanied unit level operational tours.
	1st Bn Grenadier Guards
	1st Bn Coldstream Guards
	1stBn Scots Guards
	1stBn Irish Guards
	1st Bn Welsh Guards
	1stBn The Royal Scots
	1stBn The Royal Highland Fusiliers
	1stBn The King's Own Scottish Borderers
	1stBn The Black Watch
	1st Bn The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
	1stBn The Highlanders
	1stBn The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment
	2ndBn The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment
	1st Bn The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
	1stBn The Royal Anglian Regiment
	1stBn The King's Own Royal Border Regiment
	1stBn The King's Regiment
	1stBn The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire
	1stBn The Green Howards
	1stBn The Queen's Lancashire Regiment
	1stBn The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment
	1st Bn The Royal Welch Fusiliers
	1stBn The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment
	1st Bn The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment
	1st Bn The Light Infantry
	2ndBn The Light Infantry
	1stBn The Royal Green Jackets
	2nd Bn The Royal Green Jackets
	1stBn The Royal Gurkha Rifles

Intelligence

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many (a) agents and (b) covert human intelligence sources are receiving pensions;
	(2)  what the cost was of (a) the 14th Intelligence Unit, (b) the Forward Reconnaissance Unit, (c) the Force Research Unit and (d) the Joint Services Group, in each of the last five years;
	(3)  what the mission was of the Force Research Unit.

Adam Ingram: I am withholding the information requested in accordance with Exemption 1a (Defence, security and international relations) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Intelligence

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) predecessor and (b) successor bodies were to the Force Research Unit; and when each body was (i) established and (ii) disbanded.

Adam Ingram: I am withholding the information requested in accordance with Exemption 1a (Defence, security and international relations) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Iraq

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the replacement of ordnance used during the Iraq conflict; and what changes this might imply for UK armed forces armoury.

Adam Ingram: Ordnance usage during the Iraq conflict will be assessed by the Ministry of Defence as part of its wider post-operational assessment It is too soon to say how this might affect the United Kingdom armoury.

Iraq

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the helicopters deployed to Operation Telic together with the serviceability rates for each aircraft.

Adam Ingram: The number of helicopters, by type, deployed to Operation TELIC is listed.
	
		
			 Helicopter type Number deployed to operation TELIC 
		
		
			 Chinook 20 
			 Gazelle 16 
			 Lynx Mk 3 6 
			 Lynx Mk 7 22 
			 Lynx Mk 8 4 
			 Lynx Mk 9 2 
			 Merlin Mk 1 4 
			 Puma 7 
			 Sea King Mk 4 10 
			 Sea King Mk 6 6 
			 Sea King Mk 7 4 
		
	
	Post operational reporting will provide analysis and assessment of the performance of equipment deployed on operations in Iraq. It would, therefore, be premature for me to provide a detailed assessment of the performance of helicopters at this stage. However, early indications are that the helicopters deployed to Operation TELIC performed very well.

Iraq

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the operational effectiveness of the containers handling rough terrain during Operation Telic; and what the average time was for moving containers.

Adam Ingram: There are two types of container handling equipment in theatre, the Rough Terrain Container Handling and the Container Handling Rough Terrain. The two pieces of equipment have provided a complementary capability, both have played a vital role in the logistical operations in the Gulf. Data on the length of time taken to move a container is not recorded.

Iraq

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what steps are being taken to destroy unexploded munitions in Iraq;
	(2)  what steps are being taken to protect (a) children and (b) adults from unexploded munitions in Iraq.

Adam Ingram: Basra and its environs are likely to contain a significant number of unexploded munitions from the Iran-Iraq war as well as mines laid by Iraqi forces, unexploded ordnance fired or dropped during recent hostilities and stores of ammunition and other ordnance left by Iraqi military and paramilitary forces.Providing a safe, secure and risk free environment for the Iraqi people is a key aspect of restoration activity for the Coalition. When unexploded munitions are discovered Coalition forces' mark the site and inform those in the vicinity. Their normal practice is then to destroy them in situ. Those that present the greatest threat to human life and coalition operations are destroyed first.

Iraq

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the UK naval base in Gibraltar was fully utilised for operations in Iraq; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The Gibraltar naval base was employed in support of recent operations in Iraq. Some vessels from the Naval Task Group headed by HMS Ark Royal called at Gibraltar en route to the Gulf and elements of the Air Group also embarked via Gibraltar as the Task Group transited east.

Iraq

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what problems have been reported with desert boots issued to members of the armed forces serving in Operation Telic.

Adam Ingram: No problems have been reported to date through the official defect reporting system regarding desert boots issued to members of our armed forces serving in Kuwait or Iraq.

Iraq

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assistance is being given by (a) the Royal Marines and (b) the Royal Navy to facilitate the reconstruction of Iraq.

Adam Ingram: The Royal Navy and Royal Marines have played a crucial role in facilitating the reconstruction of Iraq. In particular, their efforts alongside United States forces in liberating the port of Umm Qasr, and in clearing the Khawr Abd Allah waterway of mines and obstructions should be commended. Umm Qasr is one of the key points of entry for humanitarian aid into Iraq, and RFA Sir Galahad, carrying food, water and medical supplies, arrived in the port on 28 March.

Joint Strike Fighter

Dr. Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Joint Strike Fighters he intends to order for the Royal Navy.

Adam Ingram: The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) has been selected to meet our Future Joint Combat Aircraft (FJCA) requirement, to replace the current Harrier aircraft of Joint Force Harrier (JHF). FJCA will be flown by both Royal Navy and Royal Air Force personnel, from the new carriers and land bases. While no final decisions have yet been taken, our planning assumption is based on 150 of the Short Take Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) variant of JSF being acquired to meet the FJCA Requirement.

Joint Strike Fighter

Andrew Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  if he will take measures to ensure that weapons stocks procured before the Joint Strike Fighter enters UK service will be able to operate efficiently on the JSF;
	(2)  if it is his policy that measures will be taken to ensure that UK air-launched weapons stocks can more fully inter-operate with US aircraft and vice versa;
	(3)  if he will make a statement on the extent to which the UK's air launched weapons stocks can inter-operate with US aircraft, and vice versa, in current operations.

Adam Ingram: The interoperability of air launched weapons with our allies is one of a number of factors considered when procuring new systems.
	The United Kingdom has a number of air launched weapons which could be inter-operable with United States aircraft and vice versa, such as Maverick, for example. However it is not usual practice to share stocks as notionally common weapons often have different national sub-systems, such as fuzes. Changes to these would therefore be required before the weapons could be used by other nations' aircraft.
	During the acquisition of air launched weapons due consideration is given to their potential to operate effectively from JSF if they are likely to be in use when JSF is in service.

Mr. Sean O'Callaghan

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what payments have been made to Mr. Sean O'Callaghan.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 13 May 2003
	I am withholding the information requested in accordance with Exemption la of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Naval Nuclear Regulatory Panel

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library the minutes of meetings of the Naval Nuclear Regulatory Panel since 1997.

Lewis Moonie: The Naval Nuclear Regulatory Panel formed in 1999. As part of the panel's commitment to make information about inspection and regulatory activities publicly available, quarterly reports are routinely issued to regulated sites for distribution to members of site Local Liaison Committees. I am arranging for past copies of these quarterly reports to be placed in the Library of the House.

Next Geneation Light Anti-armour Weapon

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the NLAW will use depleted uranium; how much will be procured; when the forecast in-service date is; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: There are no plans to use depleted uranium, in the Next Generation Light Anti-Armour Weapon (NLAW) programme. NLAW has an approved In-service Date of 2007.

Non-precision Weapons

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the margin of error for non-precision weapons is when used from a height of 150,000 ft.

Adam Ingram: Aircraft do not generally fly at 150,000 ft and would not drop bombs from this altitude. I have therefore assumed an altitude of 15,000 ft. when answering this question. When dropped from this altitude, the average accuracy for non-precision weapons is as follows:
	540 lb and 1,000 lb free-fall bomb: 200 ft
	RBL-755 cluster bomb: 230 ft
	This will of course depend on the weapon delivery profile and operational circumstances. The accuracy of both precision and non-precision weapons and the need to minimise, as far as possible, collateral damage is considered during the targeting process. We continue to make efforts to improve the accuracy of both precision and non-precision weapons by enhancements to aircraft navigation systems and through our ability to calculate more precise target co-ordinates.

Nuclear Weapons

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contribution the UK has made to the USA's programme for a new generation of earth penetrating nuclear weapons.

Adam Ingram: There is no United Kingdom involvement in these United States studies.

Nuclear Weapons

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he has taken since the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty Review and Extension Conference in 2000 to increase the transparency of United Kingdom nuclear weapons capability.

Adam Ingram: During and since the 1998 Strategic Defence Review, the United Kingdom has taken various steps to enhance transparency about its nuclear weapons capability.
	The UK has given a figure for our total nuclear warhead stockpile which is unprecedentedly precise, and has given an exact figure for the number of warheads carried by the submarine on deterrent patrol. No other nuclear weapon state has given such detailed information. We have also:
	continued to provide updated information about the costs of the Trident system;
	placed fissile material no longer required for defence purposes under international safeguards and all enrichment and reprocessing facilities in the UK are now liable to international inspection. We have also been more transparent about our nuclear and fissile material stockpiles and begun national historical accounting for fissile material produced, including the publication in April 2000 of a report on Historical Accounting and Plutonium; and
	agreed an Additional Protocol to our safeguards agreement with the IAEA and EURATOM. It will enter into force when the rest of the EU has completed the necessary steps.
	The Government are committed to transparency and openness about the defence nuclear programme when compatible with continuing security requirements and the UK's international obligations under Article 1 of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Operation Endeavour

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on the command of Operation Endeavour;
	(2)  what contribution (a) the UK and (b) Spain is making to Operation Endeavour; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: NATO's maritime Operation Active Endeavour was mounted as a part of NATO's Article 5 response following the World Trade Centre attacks in 2001. The operation now covers the entire Mediterranean, with NATO warships conducting surveillance and interdiction operations in the east, and those working in the west, ie the Straits of Gibraltar, conducting monitoring, surveillance and escorting duties.
	Command of the Operation is exercised through the NATO Command Structure. The Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) exercises command through the Joint Force Commander, the Commander in Chief Allied Forces Southern Europe (CINCSOUTH) based in Naples. Day to day command of the operation is exercised by the local Maritime Component Commander, Commander Naval Forces Southern Europe, again based in Naples.
	The United Kingdom and Spain have participated in the operation since its outset, primarily through the deployment of NATO's Standing Naval Forces.
	Currently, the UK commits two ships to the operation, HMS Cornwall and HMS Northumberland. Command of the formations rotates between the NATO Nations; currently the UK is commanding Standing Naval Forces Atlantic, which is conducting the eastern element of the operation, from HMS Cornwall, while a Spanish officer commands the western element from SPS Extramadura. This ship is in lieu of her Standing Naval Force commitment, and is supported by a Spanish corvette, or fast patrol boat and a helicopter operating from ashore.

Operation Telic

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the construction of Marchwood military port to the success of Operation Telic.

Adam Ingram: The Sea Mounting Centre Marchwood played an essential part in the success of Operation Telic, since it is configured and roled for just such an operational deployment Of the 46 vessels which deployed from the UK, 32 were loaded at Marchwood.

Peacekeeping (Africa)

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress the United Kingdom has made with developing a plan which will enable Africa by 2010 to deploy a brigade sustainable in the field for 18 months for peacekeeping operations.

Adam Ingram: Since the G8 summit at Kananaskis in June 2002, G8 nations, including the United Kingdom, have been working with African partners to develop a joint action plan so that, by 2010, African countries and regional and sub-regional organisations are able to engage more effectively to prevent and resolve violent conflict on the continent, and undertake peace support operations in accordance with the United Nations Charter.
	A draft plan is still under discussion with the African Union and other partners. No decisions have yet been made on the size or sustainability of a possible African standby peacekeeping force.

RAF Coltishall

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he intends to announce a decision on the future of RAF Coltishall.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 13 May 2003
	A decision on the future use of RAF Coltishall, the base for the Jaguar, will be made nearer the time of the Jaguar's withdrawal from RAF service, which is planned to take place by 2009.

Regimental Strengths

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) establishment and (b) strength is of (i) 1 Bn The King's Regiment, (ii) 1 Bn The King's Own Scottish Borderers and (iii) 1 Bn The Queen's Lancashire Regiment.

Lewis Moonie: The establishment and strength, as at 1 April 2003, of 1 Bn The Kings Regiment, 1 Bn The King's Own Scottish Borderers and 1 Bn The Queen's Lancashire Regiment are detailed in the following table:
	
		
			  Establishment Strength 
		
		
			 1 Bn The King's Regiment 586 541 
			 1 Bn The King's Own Scottish Borderers 556 505 
			 1 Bn The Queen's Lancashire Regiment 555 543

Royal Fleet Auxiliary

Dr. Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects (a) RFA Largs Bay and (b) RFA Lyme Bay to enter service.

Adam Ingram: The First of Class Landing Ship Dock (Auxiliary), RFA Largs Bay, is expected to enter service in autumn 2004. RFA Lyme Bay is due in service by summer 2005.

Royal Fleet Auxiliary

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the work of Royal Navy minehunters during the Gulf conflict.

Adam Ingram: During the recent conflict with Iraq the Mine Countermeasures Vessels HMS Ledbury, HMS Grimsby, HMS Sandown, HMS Brocklesby, HMS Blyth and HMS Bangor operated as part of a combined UK/US Task Unit under the Command of a United Kingdom Mine Countermeasures Commander. Their role was to clear the approaches to the Iraqi primary commercial port of Umm Qasr of any sea mines to allow humanitarian aid to be delivered as quickly as possible.

Royal Fleet Auxiliary

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the work of RFA Argus during the Gulf conflict.

Adam Ingram: During the recent conflict with Iraq, RFA Argus provided support to the Amphibious Task Group and operated as the Primary Casualty Reception Facility, providing for the medical needs, both routine and emergency, of Service and displaced personnel

Royal Navy

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what Royal Navy helicopter presence will remain in the Gulf after the return of HMS Ocean and HMS Ark Royal.

Adam Ingram: Royal Navy helicopters will be assigned to those surface ships that are allocated to operations in the Gulf. Additionally, five RN Sea King MM aircraft will be remaining in Iraq for the next phase of Operation Telic.

Royal Navy

Dr. Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what unmanned aerial vehicles he intends to acquire for Royal Navy use.

Adam Ingram: We have no current plans to acquire unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for Royal Navy use. However we are planning a Joint UAV Experimentation Programme to examine the potential role of UAVs including, potentially, Royal Navy use.

Royal Navy

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent progress there has been on repairs to HMS Nottingham.

Adam Ingram: Work on HMS Nottingham began in December 2002. Repairs to the structure of the hull are expected to be completed by the end of May and work to strip out and replace damaged equipment, electrical rewiring and painting is progressing well. HMS Nottingham is expected to return to operational service, as planned, in November 2004.

Sierra Leone

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what role the Royal Navy is undertaking in respect of Sierra Leone.

Adam Ingram: The United Kingdom has maintained a twin track strategy in Sierra Leone, supporting the UN mission and providing training, advice and assistance to the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF) and the democratically elected Government of Sierra Leone. A UK-led International Military Advisory and Training Team (IMATT) continues to help build the RSLAF into an effective, professional and democratically accountable force. A number of Royal Navy personnel currently serve in the IMATT.
	To show continued UK commitment to Sierra Leone, Royal Navy vessels are deployed to Sierra Leone waters. In February HMS Iron Duke and RFA Black Rover deployed to Sierra Leone. The next scheduled visit, by RFA Gold Rover, is due later this month.

Smart Munitions

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the smart munitions in the UK inventory, including in each case the (a) unit cost and (b) total number of each unit expected to be procured; and what the total budget is for such weapons in each financial year until 2006.

Adam Ingram: For the purposes of this question a 'smart munition' has been defined as one with an autonomous ability to engage a designated target with a high degree of precision.
	Using this definition, the following smart munitions are held in the United Kingdom inventory; Tomahawk Land Attack Missile, Paveway II, Enhanced Paveway II, Paveway III, Enhanced Paveway III, Sidewinder, Alarm, Sky Flash, AMRAAM (AIM-120B), Maverick and Sea Skua.
	I am withholding details of unit cost, numbers and total budget in accordance with Exemptions 1 and 13 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Stevens Inquiry

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the findings of the Stevens Inquiry relating to the use of informants, with particular reference to Agent Stakeknife.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 13 May 2003
	Sir John Stevens' overview and recommendations published on 17 April 2003 made clear that his inquiries and specific criminal investigations are continuing and that his recommendations cover the operations of all security forces in Northern Ireland. It would therefore be inappropriate for the Ministry of Defence to comment.

Strategic Trends Paper

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place a copy of the Joint Doctrine and Concepts Centre paper on Strategic Trends in the Library.

Adam Ingram: I have placed a copy in the Library today. An electronic version is also available at www.jdcc.mod.uk/trends.htm.

Submarines

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when (a) HMS Astute, (b) HMS Artful and (c) HMS Ambush will be operational.

Adam Ingram: In accordance with announcements made on 19 February this year, an agreement was reached between the Government and BAE Systems on both the Astute and Nimrod programmes. The exact details of the agreement required to establish formally the new financial structure and the revised in-service dates are being agreed.
	The Government will report further when this has been achieved.

Type 45 Destroyer

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether all Type-45 destroyers will be equipped with Merlin helicopters.

Adam Ingram: All Type-45 destroyers will be capable of carrying Merlin Mk1 helicopters. However, at any particular time, they will carry the type of helicopter most appropriate to their tasking.

CABINET OFFICE

Departmental Report

Nick Palmer: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office when he will publish the Cabinet Office Departmental Report 2003.

Douglas Alexander: The Cabinet Office Departmental Report 2003 has today been laid before Parliament by my right hon. and noble Friend Lord Macdonald of Tradeston. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of the House.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

African Trade

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made by the Whitehall Africa Trade Group in drawing up terms of reference for a G8 study of how to improve preferential access schemes in G8 countries.

Hilary Benn: I have been asked to reply.
	This study comparing the G8 preferential market access schemes for African and least developed countries is now underway and preliminary findings are expected in June. The study will aim to produce a basis for practical proposals on improving G8 market access for African goods by identifying which aspects of these schemes have the greatest impact on African exports and identify possible areas of trade related technical assistance that can help countries increase their utilisation of the schemes. The Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex is undertaking the research drawing on work by the World bank and UNCTAD on impacts of preferential market access schemes. The importance of the work was noted by G8 trade and development experts, meeting in Brussels in January, to discuss the G8 Africa Action Plan trade commitments.

British Business Assistance

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list her Department's schemes and services which have been initiated to assist British businesses; when they were opened; what expenditure has been committed; how many companies have received assistance from each scheme; and how much has been expended by way of assistance to business by each scheme to date.

Patricia Hewitt: The information necessary to answer this question is not held centrally on a database and retrieving it would incur disproportionate cost.

British Business Assistance

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much her Department has expended on advertising and promoting each scheme and service for assisting British business since 1997.

Patricia Hewitt: The information necessary to answer this question is not held centrally on a database and retrieving it would incur disproportionate cost.

British Business Assistance

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what procedures are in place for measuring the effectiveness of her Department's schemes and services which have been initiated to assist British business.

Patricia Hewitt: The DTI routinely commissions a programme of independent evaluations of the impact of its business support programmes, the results of which are normally published in full. Individual evaluations are subject to peer review through a specialised expert committee to ensure that the methodology used is rigorous and appropriate, and that conclusions are soundly based. Following the DTI's recent review of business support, new and improved monitoring arrangements are also being put in place, using a balanced scorecard approach, to provide ongoing information about the extent to which new business support products are achieving their objectives and offering value for money.
	Further information about the Department's evaluation procedures is available on its web site at http://www.dti.gov.uk/about/evaluation, together with the results of past evaluations.

Broadband

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the availability of broadband technologies that do not use wire or cable to achieve connections; and if she will make a statement.

Patricia Hewitt: Broadband fixed wireless access offers broadband to around 12 per cent. of the UK and broadband via satellite is available across the UK.

Broadband

Si�n Simon: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had with British Telecom about its technological capacity (a) to guarantee that where the broadband service is offered it can be properly and successfully provided and (b) to introduce broadband connectivity throughout the UK.

Patricia Hewitt: My Department maintains regular contacts with BT across a wide range of technological issues as we do with other broadband providers. The Broadband Stakeholder Group, consisting of key players throughout the broadband value chain from public and private sectors, exists to ensure the fastest possible roll out of broadband across the country while remaining technology neutral.
	Around 70 per cent. of the UK already has access to broadband.

Broadband

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps she has taken to ensure that broadband provision becomes part of the universal service obligation in the EU review due by 2005.

Stephen Timms: Directive 2002/22/EC (Universal Service Directive) concerns universal service and users' rights relating to electronic communications networks and services.
	Article 36(3) requires the European Commission to review the functioning of the Directive for the first time in 2005 and to report to the European Parliament and to the Council. The member states and National Regulatory Authorities must supply the necessary information to the Commission for this purpose.
	When the review is announced the UK will provide information on all aspects of the functioning of the Directive requested by the Commission. It is too early to say at this stage whether it would be appropriate to consider broadband provision within the scope of the universal services to be mandated at Community level.

Deregulation

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when her Department will deliver its annual report on deregulation performance; and if she will make a statement.

Patricia Hewitt: holding answer 12 May 2003
	The Department reports annually on progress in its Expenditure Plan Report. The report for 200203 will be published in August. The published reports are available on the departmental website www.dti.gov.uk.

Downstream Oil Industry Forum

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the results of the work of the Downstream Oil Industry Forum; and what its future plan of work is.

Brian Wilson: The Downstream Oil Industry Forum met twice in 2002 where it identified two important areas for priority attention:
	Oil products supply infrastructure
	Service to motorists in rural areas
	The Forum has enabled a fruitful exchange of differing perspectives, which has enhanced understanding of these issues; discussions are continuing on issues, at a working level, which are aimed at benefiting all areas of the downstream oil industry.

Environmental Impact Assessments

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment is made of the environmental impact of a business, its products and services prior to the provision of a grant by one of her Department's schemes for business; who makes that assessment; and whether the assessments are published.

Patricia Hewitt: Environmental issues affecting businesses, their products and services are part of the criteria for a number of support schemes promoted by DTI. Such support includes promoting sustainable development, such as capital grants for renewable energy projects.

EU Committees

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list (a) the names, titles and grades of the officials who sit on the EU committee on security of information systems, (b) the number of times, and the dates, on which it has met since January 2002, (c) the agenda items it has considered since January 2002, (d) the decisions it has made since January 2002 and (e) the means used to communicate the decisions to the House.

Patricia Hewitt: I refer to my answer on 22 May 2002, Official Report, column 385W. The committee has not met since that response and currently there are no plans for it to reconvene.

EU Committees

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list (a) the names, titles and grades of the officials who sit on the EU advisory committee on restrictive practices and dominant positions, (b) the number of times, and the dates, on which it has met since January 2002, (c) the agenda items it has considered since January 2002, (d) the decisions it has made since January 2002 and (e) the means used to communicate the decisions to the House.

Patricia Hewitt: The Advisory Committee on Restrictive Practices and Dominant Positions is the body through which the European Commission carries out its duty to consult member states on decisions and amendments to EC competition law which it proposes to adopt. Office of Fair Trading officials represent the UK at these meetings, but may be accompanied by officials from Government Departments and other regulators where they have a particular interest.
	Since January 2002, there have been 21 meetings of this Committee, as a result of which the European Commission adopted 16 decisions (10 prohibiting and fining cartels, one prohibiting and fining companies involved in restricting trade between member states and five granting exemptions for agreements or practices which would otherwise be prohibited under Article 81 of the EC Treaty). The process is transparent. The Commission issues a press release when it adopts a decision, and the full version of the decision is published in the Official Journal of the European Communities, as well as being made available on the Commission's website. Significant legislative changes which arise from meetings of the Advisory Committee are subject to the usual Parliamentary scrutiny process.

EU Committees

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list (a) the names, titles and grades of the officials who sit on the EU advisory committee on standardisation in the field of information technology, (b) the number of times, and the dates, on which it has met since January 2002, (c) the agenda items it has considered since January 2002, (d) the decisions it has made since January 2002 and (e) the means used to communicate the decisions to the House.

Patricia Hewitt: I refer to my answer on 21 May 2002, Official Report, column 237W. The Committee has not met since that response and currently there are no plans for it to reconvene.

Export Licences

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  pursuant to her answer of 8 April 2003, Official Report, column 165W, what reasons underlie the decision not to grant extraterritorial controls to the (a) sale and (b) brokering of sales in military and paramilitary equipment;
	(2)  pursuant to her evidence before the Quadripartite Committee on 3 April, what Home Office guidance would be broken by the extension of extraterritorial control to the licensing of military and paramilitary equipment.

Nigel Griffiths: The Home Office guidance recommends that extra-territorial jurisdiction should only be considered in cases of serious offences subject to international condemnation, for which an offender could reasonably be expected to be aware that an offence has been committed. Trafficking and brokering of military equipment to a non-embargoed destination does not come into this category as the vast majority of transactions will consist of legitimate business by UK defence companies carried out accordingly to the laws of the appropriate country.

Holiday Industry

John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  what advice she is issuing to holiday companies following the ruling of His Honour Judge Graham Jones on 7 May 2003;
	(2)  what plans she has to issue warnings to holiday makers about the extent of liability of air carriers for the health, welfare and psychological well-being of air passengers;
	(3)  what advice she is issuing to holiday makers following the ruling of His Honour Judge Graham Jones on 7 May 2003;
	(4)  what assessment she has made of the impact of the ruling in Cardiff County Court by His Honour Judge Graham Jones on the holiday industry.

Melanie Johnson: A copy of the full judgment by Judge Jones on 7 May 2003 is not yet available. When this is issued we will consider whether or not there are wider implications for consumers and the holiday industry and if it would be appropriate to revise the advice we provide.

Insolvency Service

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much has been spent promoting the Insolvency Service Directors' hotline in each year since its inception.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 14 May 2003
	The only cost directly promoting the Disqualified Directors hotline since its inception was 568 incurred in the year ended 31 March 2003.

Internet (Spam E-Mails)

David Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps the Government has taken to encourage internet service providers to screen and prevent abusive and pornographic spam e-mails.

Patricia Hewitt: We strongly support the work that internet service providers are doing to help their subscribers protect themselves against unwanted e-mail of all kinds, including unsolicited commercial e-mails which promote pornographic content, by advising subscribers about the steps they can take to protect themselves and by making filtering and blocking services available.

Mental Health

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many sick days were lost in the last year by her Department through staff mental health problems.

Patricia Hewitt: In the financial year 200102 7,326 days were lost as a result of sick leave attributed to mental health problems.

Miners' Compensation

Judy Mallaber: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many former miners in Amber Valley have (a) claimed and (b) received payments in compensation for (i) chronic bronchitis and emphysema and (ii) vibration white finger.

Brian Wilson: The number of claims made in the Amber Valley, as of 31 March 2003, for respiratory disease is 2,098. Of this total, 511 claimants have received interim payments and 624 have had their claims settled. The total amount of compensation paid for respiratory disease is 4.4 million.
	The number of claims made for Vibration White Finger (VWF) is 1,404. Of this total, 561 claimants have received interim payments and 462 have had their claims settled. The total amount of compensation paid for VWF is 4.9 million.
	Note:
	Constituency figures can be found on the Department's website: www.dti.gov.uk/coalhealth. The information is compiled in the middle of the month and shows the figures for the end of the previous month.

National Institute for Medical Research

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  if she will make a statement about the future of the National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill;
	(2)  how many people work at the National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill; and if she will make a statement;
	(3)  what representations she has received concerning the future of the National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill; and if she will make a statement;
	(4)  what consultations she plans to hold over the future of the National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill with (a) staff and their representative bodies, (b) management and (c) the local community; and if she will make a statement.

Patricia Hewitt: holding answers 12 May 2003
	The National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) is MRC's largest institute and there are currently around 520 MRC employees with approximately 200 additional workers made up from short-term grant-funded posts, training fellows, students and visiting workers.
	No formal decision has been taken regarding the future of NIMR. The Medical Research Council is at present developing a long-term strategy for its major capital investments over the next 1015 years including the NIMR. This is an issue for the MRC and I have not received any formal representations.
	DTI is not planning to carry out consultation, which is being done by the MRC. A document was released for general consultation on 4 April 2003 and local consultations include:
	The FIS consultation document has been made widely available to all NIMR staff. A general notice was circulated to all NIMR staff addressing key questions arising from this exercise. Employees have been encouraged to respond via the NIMR Director's Office and/or local and national trade union representatives, they may also respond directly to Head Office.
	The trade unions also met the FIS Subcommittee to discuss and comment on the over-arching strategy. The MRC Director of Human Resources met the trade unions to discuss the consultation document prior to its release.
	NIMR management staff met recently (24 April) with MRC Senior Office Staff to discuss the implication of FIS for NIMR and it is anticipated that their views will also be reflected in NIMR's response to the consultation process.
	Professor Radda wrote (on 4 April) to local MPs in all relevant locations offering meetings to discuss the strategy.
	Results of the consultation will be considered at an MRC Council meeting in July 2003.

Oil Pipelines

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what access independent storage companies have to the oil pipeline network within the UK.

Brian Wilson: Under the Pipelines Act 1962 independent storage companies have common access rights to all oil pipelines. This means that provided there is spare capacity independent parties have a legal right of access to transport their oil products in any oil pipeline.

Petrol Forecourts

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many operable petrol forecourts there were in the UK (a) in 1997, (b) in 2001 and (c) on the latest date for which figures are available; and how many she expects to be operating in 2006.

Brian Wilson: The Institute of Petroleum's (IP) annual Retail Survey  has provided the following data on the number of retail petrol filling stations in the UK:
	
		
			 End of year Number of petrol stations 
		
		
			 1997 14,824 
			 2000 13,043 
			 2001 12,201 
			 2002 11,423 
		
	
	The Department has not estimated the number of sites that will be operating in 2006.

Post Office Card Account

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry with reference to Deposited paper ref. Dep. 03/908 of 6 March, how the reference to the need to use a machine to withdraw money from a Post Office card account relates to the statement that customers will be paid over the Post Office counter.

Stephen Timms: The customer hands the Post Office card to the counter clerk who swipes it through the Horizon terminal. The customer is then asked to enter their PIN number into the key pad sited on the counter and is then given cash and a receipt by the counter clerk over the Post Office counter.

Post Office Subsidies

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the 450 million subsidy announced for the rural Post Office network requires parliamentary approval; and when she expects to receive state aid approval from the European Commission.

Stephen Timms: In answer to a question tabled by the hon. Member himself, on 2 December I announced to parliament, the Government's intention to make available 450 million from 2003 to 2006, to help the rural post office network through the transition of benefit payment to ACT. The package will be funded from Royal Mail Holdings accumulated surpluses, as part of a package to put Royal Mail and Post Office Ltd. on a commercial footing. There is therefore no requirement for parliamentary approval.
	The funding is subject to State Aid approval and we submitted our notification to the Commission in December for clearance. The timetable for state aid clearance is a matter for the European Commission. DTI is working to ensure that the questions and issues raised by the Commission are responded to as quickly as possible. We are confident we have a strong case and we hope to have approval in due course.

Pyramid Selling

Harry Barnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in respect of (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions for charges related to pyramid direct selling and multi-marketing practices, and their advertising in each year from 1987, what the (i) places and (ii) dates were of the court cases concerned; what sentences were conferred on directors; what offences were pleaded guilty to; and if she will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 14 May 2003
	There have been no prosecutions or convictions recorded under the Trading Schemes Act 1996 and sub-ordinate legislation related to pyramid direct selling and multi-marketing practices or their advertising.
	However prosecution action will have been taken under the Companies Acts, the Company Directors Disqualification Act, the Theft Acts, or other legislation relevant to pyramid direct selling and multi-marketing practices. As the action will have been taken under a variety of different statutes the information sought is not available centrally.

Salmon

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on her policy towards dumping of salmon on the European Community markets.

Patricia Hewitt: I am concerned at the possibility that salmon originating outside the European Community may be dumped, once existing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures are terminated. I have written to Commissioner Lamy urging him to introduce a surveillance scheme to monitor imports of salmon into the Community. In addition, Ministers from the Scotland Office, and the Scottish Executive together with British MEPs have played an active role in pressing the commission to adopt a surveillance scheme.

Sickness Absence

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many staff in her Department were on long term sick leave in each of the last five years.

Patricia Hewitt: The numbers of staff whose sick absence was longer than 22 days in each financial year were:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 199798 206 
			 199899 217 
			 19992000 210 
			 200001 228 
			 200102 248 
		
	
	In my Department sick absence in excess of 22 days in a year is the trigger for considering poor attendance action.

Statutory Instruments

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the statutory instruments issued by her Department in the last 12 months, indicating (a) the purpose of each and (b) the cost of each to (i) public funds, (ii) businesses and (iii) individuals.

Patricia Hewitt: The HMSO Statutory Instrument Registrar siregistrar@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk can provide a list of statutory instruments issued by individual Departments. Statutory Instruments which have been originated by Departments but eventually made by the Privy Council Office, are only listed under the Privy Council Office.
	However during the period 1 April 2002 and 31 March 2003 my Department laid 101 Statutory Instruments before Parliament. A Regulatory Impact Assessment is completed for regulatory proposals unless there are no or negligible costs. During the period in question my Department prepared RIAs for the following instruments.
	The Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations 2002,
	The Wireless Telegraphy (Exemption) (Amendment) Regulations 2002,
	The Wireless Telegraphy (Licences Charges) Regulations 2002,
	The Offshore Installations (Emergency Pollution Control) Regulations 2002,
	The Directors' Remuneration Report Regulation 2002,
	The Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002,
	The National Minimum Wage Regulation 1999 (Amendment) Regulations 2002,
	The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Rate of Interest) (No. 3) Order 2002,
	The Fixed-term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002,
	The Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002,
	The Maternity and Parental Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2002,
	The Paternity and Adoption Leave Regulations 2002,
	The Statutory Paternity Pay and Statutory Adoption Pay (Weekly Rates) Regulations 2002,
	The Statutory Paternity Pay and Statutory Adoption Pay (General) Regulations 2002,
	The Statutory Paternity Pay and Statutory Adoption Pay (Administration) Regulations 2002,
	The Statutory Paternity Pay and Statutory Adoption Pay (National Health Service Employees) Regulations 2002,
	The Statutory Paternity Pay and Statutory Adoption Pay (Mariners and Persons Abroad) Regulations 2002,
	The Community Designs (Fees) Regulations 2002,
	The Measuring Instruments (EC Requirements) (Electrical Energy Meters) (Amendment) Regulations 2002,
	The Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002,
	The Flexible Working (Procedural Requirements) Regulations 2002,
	The Working Time (Amendment) Regulations 2002,
	The Cosmetic Products (Safety) Regulations 2003,
	The Wireless Telegraphy (Exemption) Regulations 2003, The Companies (Acquisition of Own Shares) (Treasury Shares) Regulations 2003,
	The Registered Designs Regulations 2003,
	The Nuclear Industries Security Regulations 2003,
	The Patents (Electronic Communications) (Amendment) Rules 2003,
	The Patents Act 1977 (Electronic Communications) Order 2003.
	Copies of all RIAs have been placed in the Libraries of the House and are also available on the department's website.

Statutory Performance Benchmarks

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the proposed introduction of statutory performance criteria into the process which determines board-room bonuses.

Patricia Hewitt: Directors' remuneration is a matter for companies and their shareholders. The Government will shortly be consulting on issues relating to 'rewards for failure' and measures to more effectively link severance payments to performance through contracts.

Transport Fuel

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what strategic planning she is carrying out to ensure adequate supply and distribution of retail motor transport fuels in (a) urban and (b) rural areas.

Brian Wilson: The Department is working in close collaboration with the industry and other Government Departments so that robust and effective emergency plans and response measures are in place in the event of any possible supply disruption.
	The issue of adequate supply of transport fuels is also being address by the Downstream Oil Industry Forum. I initiated the forum last year to address industry concerns about:
	Oil products supply infrastructure
	Services to motorists in rural areas
	The Forum agreed that all urban areas are well placed with adequate supplies of transport fuels. However, rural areas are an issue, and the forum initiated a Rural Task Force to investigate how the needs of the rural motorist can be served.

TRANSPORT

Airports

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what purposes his Department has employed Avia Solutions in connection with plans to expand runway capacity in the South East; what monitoring he has carried out on (a) financial and (b) other links between (i) directors and (ii) employees of Avia Solutions and BAA plc; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: holding answer 15 May 2003
	Avia Solutions have been retained by the Department as part of a team of consultants and civil servants to carry out the analysis of responses to the consultation. As part of their work they will analyse responses on the issue of capacity for the south-east and other parts of the UK. The managing consultants for the south-east study were Halcrow, Avia solutions were not involved with this work. Any final decisions on capacity will, of course, be taken by Ministers.

Airports

John Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will investigate the inability of constituents in Solihull to obtain questionnaires to respond to the Midlands version of the Government's Consultation on Regional Airports; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: We are aware of individual instances in which a small number of people have had difficulty in obtaining hard copies of the questionnaire. Officials have discussed this with the Department's distribution centre as part of the on-going monitoring and development of their performance. Since the launch of the revised South East consultation documents on 27 February, 16,319 new Midlands' questionnaires have been issued, with around 15 per cent. having been completed and returned.
	Residents in Solihull, as in the rest of the UK, can respond to the consultation in a number of ways to ensure that their views are taken into account. These include completing the electronic version of the questionnaire on our website and sending letters to our consultation response address.

Highways Agency

Archie Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his Answer of 3 March 2003, Official Report, column 798W, on the Highways Agency, what the total pay costs incurred by the Highways Agency were in each year since 1997.

David Jamieson: The salary costs for civil servants employed by the Highways Agency on 1 January for the past seven years are set out in the following table:
	
		
			 Year Salary costs() 
		
		
			 1997 38,446,953 
			 1998 36,566,314 
			 1999 38,836,837 
			 2000 41,341,278 
			 2001 43,003,512 
			 2002 44,967,107 
			 2003 47,540,928

Mobile Workers

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the regulatory impact assessment of the extension of the Working Time Directive to mobile workers will be published.

David Jamieson: A partial Regulatory Impact Assessment will be published with the Consultation Document which we expect to issue in the summer.

Mobile Workers

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when consultation will commence on the regulations implementing the extension of the Working Time Directive to mobile workers; and for how long it will last.

David Jamieson: The department is consulting with both sides of the industry on how the directive should be implemented into domestic legislation. We expect to launch a formal consultation exercise before the end of this summer. The exercise should last for at least three months.

Pay Costs

Archie Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his Answer of 3 March 2003, Official Report, columns 7967W, on Departmental Agency staff, what the total pay costs incurred by the (a) Vehicle Certification Agency, (b) Maritime and Coast Guard Agency and (c) Driving Standards Agency were in each year since 1997.

David Jamieson: The information requested is contained in the Agencies' published Annual Report and Accounts (details for 200203 are not yet finalised). For the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, details begin in its first year, 199899. Copies are available in the Library.

Rail Freight Grants

Helen Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will announce the (a) date for reinstatement and (b) budget for SRA rail freight grants.

David Jamieson: I refer my hon. Friend, to the answer given by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State to the hon. Member for Brecon and Radnoshire (Roger Williams) on 13 May 2003, Official Report, column 134W.

Road Safety

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many non-UK citizens have been killed in road accidents in the UK in each of the last five years.

David Jamieson: This information is not available. The nationality of a casualty is not recorded as part of the Department's collection of road accident statistics.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Information Technology

Howard Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her Department's (a) total managed expenditure, (b) total spending on Information Technology and (c) spending on Information Technology as a proportion of its total managed expenditure was in each financial year since 199798.

Alun Michael: The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs was established as a new Department in 200102. The contribution by Defra to Total Managed Expenditure can be measured by the total of spending under resource and capital budgets, less non-cash items in AME. Data for 199899 to 200203 are available in the 2003 Departmental Report (May Cm 5919).
	Information technology budgets were devolved to Defra's various business areas for 200102 and 200203 and fully accounted information on total IT expenditure cannot be gathered without incurring disproportionate cost. However, estimates being used for planning purposes indicate that IT expenditure in Defra (excluding internal staff costs, Agencies and Non-Departmental Public Bodies) was 53 million for 200102 and 64 million for 200203.

Market Testing

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the estimated level of saving to the Department is from the use of market testing in 200203.

Alun Michael: Departments are no longer required to undertake a programme of market testing. Defra's focus is on improved delivery of services by ensuring that high quality public services are delivered on the basis of value for money in line with the Better Quality Services ethos as set out in the following extract from the Treasury publication, Public Private Partnerships, The Government's Approach: (http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media//C23A9/PPP2QOQ.pdf)
	Better Quality Services
	The focus of Better Quality Services (BQS) is on improving what is delivered, rather than taking a dogmatic line about whether this is best achieved through private, public or partnership solutions. BQS is a comprehensive programme across central Government. It covers all activities in the departments and its agencies and executive NDPBs, with all services and activities, including policy and headquarters functions, are reviewed over a five year period.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Africa

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Minister of State for International Development if he will publish a report on UK progress with implementing the G8 Africa Action Plan.

Hilary Benn: The UK will publish at the beginning of June a report detailing UK progress in implementing the G8 Africa Action Plan at the G8 Summit in Evian.

Africa

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Minister of State for International Development what progress has been made with UN (a) African and (b) sub-regional initiatives to control the circulation of small and light weapons within Africa.

Hilary Benn: As part of the joint DFID/FCO/MOD Global Conflict Prevention Pool, the UK Government supports the implementation of a number of African and sub-regional initiatives to combat the circulation of small arms and light weapons on the continent. Some of this work has been done in partnership with the UN.
	The UK provides financial and political support to three regional initiatives: the Nairobi Secretariat assists the countries of eastern Africa, the Great Lakes region and the Horn of Africa to meet the commitments undertaken in the Nairobi Declaration on preventing the proliferation of small arms and light weapons (2000). The Secretariat provides advice, capacity building and technical assistance on small arms, training to policing agencies and helps to ensure coherence on regional activities.
	The Programme for Co-ordination and Assistance for Security and Development (PCASED) supports the implementation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Moratorium on the import, export and manufacture of light weapons. The Southern African Development Committee (SADC) Regional Action Programme on Small Arms and Light Weapons works to assist countries in southern Africa to combat the circulation of small arms. In March 2002 the UK co-sponsored a conference to examine implementation of the UN Programme of Action on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in all its aspects, in Southern Africa.
	The UK Global Conflict Prevention Pool also supports the UN Development Programme's (UNDP) weapons collection, destruction and management programme in a number of African countries , including the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo. A recent UNDP disarmament, demobilization and reintegration project in Republic of Congo assisted 11,000 former fighters to relinquish their weapons and receive economic and social reintegration assistance.
	In July 2003, the UK will report to the UN Biennial Meeting of States as part of its review of implementation of the UN Programme of Action. In partnership with other governments, regional agencies and civil society, the UK will seek to find ways to improve implementation of the Programme of Action in Africa, to help ensure that the circulation of small arms is addressed effectively.

Africa

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether her Department will enter negotiations to reduce the tax African countries impose on the importation of bednets.

Hilary Benn: The UK Government is strongly committed to tackling malaria, recognising its importance not just in terms of burden of disease, but also in terms of the impact malaria has on economic development, particularly in Africa where this has been an increasing problem. We are committed to the internationally agreed Millennium Development Goal to halt and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria by 2015, as well as to supporting the principles and targets set out at the African Summit on Roll Back Malaria held in Abuja in April 2000.
	At that summit, African leaders identified insecticide treated nets as a measure that could be used to control malaria. Eighteen countries have now reduced or eliminated taxes and tariffs on nets, netting material and insecticide. RBM, with the support of DFID, is working on the process necessary to support other countries to do likewise, through advocacy, policy frameworks and technical advice.

Africa

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Minister of State for International Development what progress has been made with a country-by-country assessment of (a) finance gaps, (b) necessary policy reforms and (c) private sector participation for providing safe water in Africa.

Hilary Benn: The EU 'Water for Life' Initiative was launched at the World Summit in Johannesburg in 2002. The initiative aims to provide a means of securing greater co-ordination between EU member states and developing countries in developing water management and water use arrangements.
	The principal intention of the EU Water Initiative is to provide the means to contribute towards achievement of the Millennium Development Goalsto halve by 2015 the proportion of people without access to safe water and basic sanitation. This will include an assessment of finance gaps, necessary policy reforms and private sector participation, focussing initially on Africa.
	The Initiative has been building a framework of working groups, operating through a core group of representatives and a multi-stakeholder forum, which encompasses Governments, civil society and the private sector. The UK Government are a key contributor and are leading on the Finance Component. They are also a member of several other working groups including water and sanitation.
	The UK continues to strongly support the EU Water Initiative and is working with member states to ensure that it moves from discussion to action on the ground.

Africa

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Minister of State for International Development if he will make a statement about the help the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund has given to Africa, and its future plans.

Hilary Benn: The Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF) has made one investment to date, a 14 million senior ranking loan and a 5 million subordinated loan to a cellular investment holding. This is a leading private regional cellular telephone company with 14 licences in 12 countries of Africa, in which a number of Direct Funding Initiatives (DFIs) are also investors. The fund's loan forms part of a larger fund raising by the telephone company. Commercial bank lenders have provided three year term debt, whereas the fund's loans have a six year tenure in order to provide a more stable financing structure.
	The fund has approved, for the purposes of undertaking a detailed review, a further five investments which would give rise to a potential total commitment by the fund of some 63 million, of which three should close in mid-2003. The five investments represent projects in the electricity, transport, and sanitation sectors, and all are in West Africa. The fund managers will shortly be submitting four further investments for initial approval. This would give rise to additional commitments of 38 million.
	If potential investments proceed as envisaged over the next 12 months the fund will have committed some 125 million, and will then need to engage in steps to increase its size to around 250 million, as contemplated at the time of its establishment.

Africa

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Minister of State for International Development whether the G8 leaders' Africa Personal Representatives have agreed a process for reporting each G8 country's and the EU's progress towards the Monterrey commitments; how often these reports will be made; and how they will be published.

Hilary Benn: Progress on achieving the Monterrey commitments will be reported in national progress reports. Each G8 country is individually responsible for publishing a progress report. The UK published an implementation plan shortly after the Africa Action Plan had been agreed, and we will be publishing a progress report that will give an update on activity in each of the priorities we set out in the plan. Africa Personal Representatives will be producing a report for presentation to G8 Heads for the Evian Summit; this report is in the process of being finalised, and will also be made public.

Congo

Frank Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what aid the Government has sent to the Congo in the last three years.

Hilary Benn: While we do not have a development programme with the Republic of Congo as we do with the Democratic Republic of Congo, over the last three years for which figures are available, the Government's assistance (including debt relief) to both countries has been:
	
		
			  Gross Public Expenditure, in  million 
			  Rep. Of Congo Dem. Rep. Of Congo 
		
		
			 19992000 3.224 2.132 
			 200001  6.752 
			 200102  10.262 
			 200203(3) 0.370 16.057 
		
	
	(3) Provisional figures

Ethiopia

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Minister of State for International Development what assessment his Department has made of the (a) social and (b) economic consequences of Ethiopian farmers moving from coffee to khat production.

Hilary Benn: Some coffee farmers are making an economic choice to shift to khat production. We have not undertaken any specific assessment of the consequences of this change, but are keeping the situation under observation.
	There have been some efforts by the University of Alemayu in Ethiopia to encourage a shift from khat to coffee. These have been unsuccessful, largely because of low coffee prices, but also because of slow start-up time for coffee production and the need for intensive labour.
	The key issue is market prices for coffee and the need to reduce vulnerability to market uncertainty. Commodity dependence is a complex problem and unfortunately there are no simple solutions. Together with other Whitehall Departments, we are engaged with a number of different stakeholders examining how best to mitigate the wider challenges presented by dependence on agricultural commodities. In Ethiopia we are providing a broad range of poverty-focused bilateral support aimed at reducing the vulnerability of people to shocks, including that of low commodity prices.

EU Water Initiative

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Minister of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the EU water initiative, launched at the World Water Forum, in Kyoto in March 2003 and the UK's contribution to the EU initiative.

Hilary Benn: The EU 'Water for Life' Initiative was launched at the World Summit in Johannesburg in 2002 to secure greater co-ordination between EU member states and developing countries in developing water management and water use arrangements. The aim is to help make progress towards the Millennium Development Goal of halving by 2015 the proportion of people without access to safe water and the equivalent target agreed for sanitation at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg.
	The potential outcomes of the initiative are: greater political commitment to action on water and sanitation; better water governance arrangements, including stronger partnerships between public and private sectors; development of regional and sub-regional co-operation on water management; and development of additional innovative funding mechanisms. The initiative operates through a framework of working groups on issues, and has regional components in Africa, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Mediterranean and Latin America.
	The UK Government contributes through leadership of the Finance Component and membership of several other working groups including water and sanitation. We continue to support the EU Water Initiative and are working with EU member states to ensure that it moves from discussion to action on the ground, in order to deliver the Millennium Development Goal for water, sanitation and environmental sustainability.

Foreign Aid

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Minister of State for International Development how many countries receiving United Kingdom aid have agreed poverty reduction strategies with her Department; and how many she expects will be agreed each year to 2006; how many of these strategies she expects to be (a) multi-donor agreements and (b) to be superseded by multi-donor agreements; and which other bilateral and multilateral donors are working with the United Kingdom on multi-donor agreements.

Hilary Benn: The UK was influential in agreement being reached at the 1999 Annual Meetings of the World Bank and IMF that countries receiving debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative should produce Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRS) setting out how resources are to be used. These are the basis for support from the IMF, the World Bank and other donors. We believe strongly that a basic principle of these Strategies is national ownership, written in-country by the government, setting out the policies it intends to pursue to promote growth and reduce poverty. These Strategies are not therefore agreed with DFID, but we are aligning our bilateral development assistance programmes with them. To date, 26 low-income countriesall recipients of UK aidhave produced full PRSs. Of the 25 countries that have produced interim PRSs, we expect a number of these to develop full Strategies over the next year or two. DFID is working with these countries to help them with this.

Honours

Greg Pope: To ask the Minister of State for International Development how many officials in his Department have received honours; and how many honours are held by his officials, broken down by category of honour.

Hilary Benn: Our records show that there are currently eight officials in DFID who have received honours related to official duties: one CMG, three OBEs and four MBEs. Data is not routinely kept on the number of awards held by individuals, awards not related to official duties, or awards already held by staff before joining the department.

Polio

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Minister of State for International Development what discussions he has had with his G8 counterparts regarding the commitment of additional funds to the WHO to eliminate polio by 2005.

Hilary Benn: DFID has provided US$357 million to support Polio eradication since 1988. We have on a number of occasions pressed G8 countries to fulfil the commitments made in Kananaskis to raise sufficient resources to eliminate polio in Africa by 2005. Indeed, we will be urging this at the G8 summit in Evian. We believe eradication is achievable, but will require resources and commitment from a broad partnership base. Discussions have been held with a variety of stakeholders, including the G8 and others.

Primary Education

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Minister of State for International Development what resources his Department has allocated to ensure that all children have the opportunity to complete primary education; and what recent discussions he has had with her G8 counterparts on (a) pooling and (b) increasing the resources dedicated to this aim.

Hilary Benn: Between 2002 and 2007 we intend to spend 1.3 billion on basic education, subject to agreeing high quality programmes with our partners. Of this, about 500 million will go to Africa and 800 millon to Asia. This figure of 1.3 billion compares favourably with the 700 million committed to Universal Primary Education since 1997.
	However, it is important to realise that achieving Universal Primary Education is not an issue that simply requires the provision of more aid. Most of the countries with large numbers of children out of school are not seriously committed to Universal Primary Education. Most countries that are committed to reprioritising their own spending are receiving additional aid.
	There is broad consensus among international agencies that greater harmonisation of resources will increase aid effectiveness. We continue to underline the central importance of ensuring that strengthened efforts support country-owned strategies, as set out for low-income countries in Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) and linked to national budget processes. We will work with G8 to ensure that they increase support and resources to meet the education MDGs.

Sponsorship

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which of his Department's projects have received sponsorship in the last financial year; who the sponsor was in each case; what the nature of each project was; what time-period was covered by each project; what the total cost of each project was; how much money was involved in each sponsorship deal; and if she will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: DFID did not receive any sponsorship in the last financial year.

Water and Sanitation

Frank Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what policy the Government has adopted on what nations can do on their own to achieve the goal set by the United Nations on halving the number of people without access to water for nourishment and hygiene by 2015.

Hilary Benn: The Government supports country-owned Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), as the best way in which nations can achieve, on their own, the goals set by the United Nations on water and sanitation. PRSPs offer donors the opportunity to support a country's own priorities and reforms. They also help enhance and streamline the financing of water supply and sanitation. DFID works with partner governments to strengthen PRSPs and with donors to align their support.
	Water supply and sanitation are consistently identified as a priority for the poor in participatory poverty assessments, and many PRSPs recognise the contribution of access to a safe water supply in reducing both income and non-income related dimensions of poverty. DFID advocates such an integrated approach to sanitation, water supply and hygiene promotion measures to combat poverty in our discussions with partner governments.

Water and Sanitation

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many of the national poverty reduction strategies received by her Department include measures to increase access to clean water and improve sanitation; and how her Department encourages such activities.

Hilary Benn: Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) provide a country-owned framework to strengthen the impact of public action on poverty, and to promote progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. Water supply and sanitation are consistently identified as a priority for the poor in participatory poverty assessments, and all PRSPs generally recognise the contribution of access to a safe water supply in reducing both income and non-income related dimensions of poverty.
	A review of Full and Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers in Sub-Saharan Africa has found however that treatment of water supply and sanitation is not comprehensive and often inconsistent. In particular, sanitation and solid waste management received limited and inadequate attention. Also, despite the significant continuing work on sector reforms (in decentralisation, and rural and urban water supply and sanitation), their incorporation in the country PRSP initiatives requires considerable strengthening. The Uganda PRSP was a notable exception having good coverage of water and sanitation issues, and serves as an illustration of good practice.
	Despite their weaknesses, Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers represent a huge step forward and we remain committed to focusing on helping partner governments implement them. PRS and the linked Medium Term Expenditure Framework sanitation sector. This financing supports fiscally sustainable strategies for the scaling up of reforms to acountry level.
	Processes provide an opportunity to move to a programmatic approach, which will also help enhance and streamline financing of the water supply and sanitation sector. This financing supports fiscally sustainable strategies for the scaling up of reforms to a country level.
	DFID are working with partner governments to strengthen PRSPs as they are revised (each three years). We advocate an integrated approach to environmental health to combat poverty and continue to push for the inclusion of sanitation, water supply and hygiene promotion measures into individual country PRSPs. In addition, through the Overseas Development Institute and WaterAid, we are supporting an in depth research and advocacy project which aims to address these issues in more detail.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

British Museum

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the reasons for changes in the level of receipts by the British Museum in the last five years.

Kim Howells: The Museum's total self-generated income increased from 48.8 million in 199899 and 46.7million in 19992000 to 51.7 million in 200001 as a result of their fundraising activities to secure capital funding for the Great Court and other development projects.
	With the opening of the Great Court in December 2000 it was no longer necessary for the Museum to generate large sums of capital funding and as a result total self-generated income decreased in 200102 and 200203 to 44.9 million and 43.2 million respectively. In the last two years the Museum has significantly increased its revenue income primarily delivered by the facilities of the Great Court. The Museum is forecasting that receipts will stabilise in the next few years at around 24 million.
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State supports the Museum in their activities to obtain income from trading, fundraising, donations and sponsorship.

Darts Sponsorship

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with the British Darts Organisation about alternative sources of sponsorship; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: The Government are aware of the extent to which the British Darts Organisation is reliant on tobacco sponsorship and of the challenge it faces in finding alternative sponsors.
	I met Olly Croft, Managing Director of the British Darts Organisation, on 9 April to discuss sponsorship issues and to assure him of the Government's commitment to helping those sports affected by the tobacco sponsorship ban. It has always been the Government's aim to ensure that such sports do not suffer unduly during the transition away from tobacco sponsorship.
	It was agreed at the meeting that the British Darts Organisation would write to me outlining the ways that they believe the Department can best assist them in their search for alternative sponsorship. I await Mr. Croft's letter.

Satisfaction Channel

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether she plans to proscribe the Satisfaction Channel as recommended by the ITC; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is currently considering whether to proceed with a proscription order against Satisfaction Channel Television.

Sport (Women)

Huw Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with television and press organisations about increasing positive media coverage of women's sport.

Richard Caborn: I have had no formal discussions on this issue. However, UK Sport is actively lobbying to make the media more aware of women's sport. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and Sport England are leading by example, through ensuring that all internal publications give men and women equal coverage. I also met Helen Donohue at the Women's Sports Foundation to discuss general issues involving women's sport.

Television Channels

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list (a) those channels which the ITC has recommended should be the subject of a Proscription Order and (b) those channels against which Proscription Orders have been issued since 1990.

Kim Howells: The information requested is as follows:
	(a) The ITC has recommended proscription for the following:
	Red Hot Television (Red Hot Dutch)
	TV Erotica (also known as xxxTV)
	Channel Bizarre
	Rendezvous Channel
	Adult X
	Satisfaction Channel
	Satisfaction Club Television
	Eurotica Rendez-Vous
	Eros TV
	(b) The following channels have been the subject of proscription orders since 1990:
	Red Hot Television
	XXX TV Erotica
	Rendez-Vous Television
	Satisfaction Club Television
	Eurotica Rendez-Vous
	Eros TV
	Channel Bizarre and Adult X stopped broadcasting before a Proscription Order was made. The Secretary of State is currently considering whether to proceed with a Proscription Order against Satisfaction Channel.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Education Funding

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what funds his Department holds which have yet to be allocated in respect of the current financial year.

Charles Clarke: holding answer 12 May 2003
	Allocations for 200304 were outlined in my statement of 19 December, Official Report, column 67WS, and the Higher Education White Paper The Future of Higher Education' (Command Number, 5735) published on 22 January. Those allocations include a small element of unallocated provision (40 million) as recommended by Treasury to cover unforeseen pressures that might arise during the course of the year.

HEALTH

Cancer Services

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the maximum waiting time is for (a) radiotherapy and (b) chemotherapy for cancer patients in Greater Manchester; and what the corresponding figures were in each of the last two years.

Jacqui Smith: The Department of Health does not collect data on waiting times for chemotherapy or radiotherapy separately from other forms of cancer treatment.
	The NHS Cancer Plan sets out the Department's strategy to reduce waiting times for cancer patients. The ultimate goal, planned to be achieved by 2008, is that no one should wait longer than one month from an urgent referral for suspected cancer to the beginning of treatment, except for a good clinical reason or through patient choice.
	In order to tackle cancer waiting times, the Department is making unprecedented investment in new radiotherapy facilities, streamlining care processes through the cancer services collaborative and working to best utilise the current workforce and to increase the number of staff in post and in training.

Correspondence

Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will respond to the hon. Member for West Worcestershire's letters of (a) 4 February and (b) 14 March about Mrs.Wendy Hands.

David Lammy: A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 8 May.

Document Classification

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many documents are held by his Department that are subject to security classification, broken down by category of classification.

David Lammy: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by my hon. Friend, the Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Mr. Alexander), on 7 May 2003, Official Report, column 696W.
	The information could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The Department follows the Cabinet Office guidance on document marking and control.

Dysphasia

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether is it his policy to encourage and fund the provision of dysphasia support services by voluntary groups.

Jacqui Smith: Primary care trusts now have the responsibility of improving the health of the community, securing the provision of high quality services, and integrating health and social care locally. They have the resources to commission services, and to identify the number of professional staff that they need to deliver those services.
	In making their commissioning decisions PCTs will need to consider how best to use a range of providers for the benefit of National Health Service patients. PCTs may fund local support groups for a range of conditions including dysphasia, if they have identified this as a need when assessing the health needs of the local community. They will also need to consider how best to use voluntary sector providers.

Evesham Community Hospital

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the future of the minor injuries unit at Evesham Community Hospital, and the implications of proposed staff reductions at the unit for its functioning.

David Lammy: This is a matter for South Worcestershire Primary Care Trust.
	Wherever change is being considered, local health organisations, working with their partners, will need to satisfy themselves that their plans are in line with the core principles set out in the guidance Keeping the NHS LocalA New Direction of Travel, published in February this year.

General Practitioners

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioners working in North Shropshire are (a) under 40 years old, (b) between 40 and 65 years old and (c) over 65 years old.

David Lammy: Figures for North Shropshire are not held centrally.

Hysterectomies

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the latest waiting times for urgent hysterectomies in Worcestershire.

David Lammy: Information on urgent hysterectomy operations is not collected centrally.
	We are reducing outpatient waits for urgent referrals and have embarked on the biggest ever programme to replace and update screening, diagnosis and treatment equipment. Within new guaranteed maximum waiting time backstops, patients are treated according to individual clinicians' assessment of clinical urgency and need.

NHS Dentistry

Janet Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many extra NHS dental places have been funded in (a) East Staffordshire and (b) England since 1997.

David Lammy: Since 1997, the funding initiatives to increase the number of national health service dental treatment places in England have been:
	
		 million
		
			 Initiative Date Funding 
		
		
			 Investing in Dentistry Scheme 19992000 11 
			 Dental Care Development Fund 200001 4 
			 Modernisation Fund 200102 35 
			 Dental Action Plan 200102 10 
		
	
	These grants were distributed to health authorities (HAs) based on the existing provision of dental services and the estimated need for future services. The HAs were then responsible for distributing this money in the form of grants to general dental service dentists who would undertake to treat an agreed number of additional NHS patients. Information on the number of additional patients is not held centrally.
	South Staffordshire HA, the authority responsible for the East Staffordshire area, was awarded 108,000 from the Investing in Dentistry scheme, 50,000 from the Dental Care Development Fund, 364,000 from the Modernisation Fund and 65,000 from the Dental Action Plan.

NHS Dentistry

Janet Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS dentists there are per head of population in (a) Staffordshire and (b) England.

David Lammy: The number of NHS dentists working in North Staffordshire Health Authority, South Staffordshire Health Authority and England at 30 September 2001 and the number of dentists per 100,000 population is shown in the table. These figures are on a headcount basis rather than whole time equivalent and take no account of part-time working. Dentists working in more than one dental service are included in each service, apart from dentists working in both the personal dental service (PDS) and the general dental service (GDS) who are counted in the GDS only.
	Dentists working solely in private dentistry are not covered in these figures.
	
		NHS Dental Services: Number of dentists and number per 100,000 populationAt 30 September 2001
		
			 NHS dentists North Staffordshire HA South Staffordshire HA England 
		
		
			 General Dental Services(4) 126 178 18,354 
			 Salaried service of GDS 0 0 86 
			 Personal Dental Services(5) 15 11 467 
			 Community Dental Service(6) 0 10 1,348 
			 Hospital Dental Services(6) 0 10 2,184 
			 Number of dentists per 100,000 population(7) 31 37 46 
		
	
	(4) The General Dental Service (GDS) figures cover principals on a HA list, assistants and vocational and dental practitioners.
	(5) The Personal Dental Service (PDS) covers dentists working in the PDS who are not working in the GDS.
	(6) Figures by Health Authority are rounded to the nearest 10.
	(7) Using ONS mid-year population estimates based on the 2001 census.

NHS Dentistry

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of the population in the Shropshire County Primary Care Trust has been registered with a dentist in each of the last five years.

David Lammy: At 28 February 2003, 39.3 per cent. of the population for Shropshire County Primary Care Trust were registered with a general dental service (GDS) dentist. The information in the table shows the percentage of population registered with a dentist for Shropshire health authority area at 30 September for the years 1998 to 2001 and for 31 August 2002.
	
		General Dental Service: Proportion of the population registered with a dentist, 1998 to 2002 Shropshire health authority
		
			 At 30 September Percentage 
		
		
			 1998(8) 44.4 
			 1999(8) 43.2 
			 2000(8) 42.7 
			 2001(9) 40.7 
			 2002(10) 41.4 
		
	
	(8) 19982000 ONS mid year population estimates based on the 1991 census.
	(9) 2001 ONS mid year population estimates based on the 2001 census.
	(10) 2002 data is at 31 August 2003.
	Registrations lapse if patients do not return to their dentist within 15 months and so the registration figures exclude patients who have not been to their GDS dentist within the past 15 months. Also excluded from the figures are patients who receive dental treatment from other national health service dental services including dental access centres.
	Some of the reduction in recorded registration numbers is due to improvements in the methods of removing duplicate registration records, which were first employed by the Dental Practice Board in 1993.

Hospitals

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many operations have been cancelled at the (a) Princess Royal hospital and (b) Royal Shrewsbury hospital in the last 12 months.

David Lammy: The number of last minute cancellations for non clinical reasons in the period January to December 2002, which is the latest information available, was 79 at the Princess Royal hospital national health service trust and 352 at the Royal Shrewsbury NHS trust. Last minute means on the day patients were due to arrive, after the patient has arrived in hospital or on the day of their operation/surgery.

Hospitals

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients are waiting for in-patient treatment at (a) Royal Shrewsbury hospital and (b) Princess Royal hospital.

David Lammy: At the end of February 2003, there were 1,392 patients waiting for inpatient treatment at Princess Royal hospital national health service trust and 3,698 waiting at Royal Shrewsbury hospitals NHS trust.

Hospitals

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the value of settled negligence claims brought against the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital was in each year since 1997.

David Lammy: This information is not collected centrally.

Hospitals

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to confirm the dates by which the Worcestershire Acute hospitals NHS trust must (a) bring its annual expenditure into balance and (b) repay its accumulated deficit; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: In line with this Government's policy of Shifting the Balance of Power, discussions about individual health organisations financial positions are undertaken locally with relevant commissioners and if required the local strategic health authority (SHA). In this case West Midlands South SHA.

SCOTLAND

Departmental Catering Services

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the cost was of (a) in-house canteen and (b) other catering services provided by the Department in 2002.

Helen Liddell: My Department does not provide in-house canteen or other catering services. Scotland Office staff have access to canteen and catering facilities in those buildings shared with the Scottish Executive.

Departmental Expenditure

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what her estimate is of the expenditure of her Department on newspapers, magazines and periodicals in 2002.

Helen Liddell: Estimated expenditure on newspapers, magazines and periodicals purchased centrally by my department in 200203 is 12,846.

Departmental Invoices

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if she will list the occasions on which her Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies failed to pay valid invoices within 30 days or after the agreed credit period in the financial year 200102.

Helen Liddell: The only non-departmental public body for which my Department has responsibility is the Boundary Commission for Scotland. Payment performance details for the Commission are not recorded separately and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Running Costs

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the running costs in 2002 were of (a) her Ministers' private offices, separately identifying expenditure on staff, and (b) her Department.

Helen Liddell: The running costs of my Department's private offices in 200102 were 614,146, of which 325,982 related to staff costs. The figures do not take account of accommodation costs and other overheads.
	The running costs (administration costs) of the Department in 200102 were 6.6 million, of which 3.8 million was staff costs.

Market Research

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what expenditure has been incurred by her (a) Department, (b) agencies and (c) non-departmental bodies in 2002 on (i) opinion polling, (ii) focus groups and (iii) other forms of market research; and if she will list the surveys commissioned and the purpose of each.

Helen Liddell: No expenditure has been incurred by my Department on opinion polling, focus groups or other forms of market research.

National Insurance

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the cost will be to public funds in 200304 of the rise in national insurance contributions on the salary bill of her Department.

Helen Liddell: It is estimated that the changes to employers' national insurance contributions will increase pay costs on average by 0.7 per cent. in the current year.

Parental Leave

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many staff in her Department have used their leave entitlement under the Parental Leave Directive since it came into force.

Helen Liddell: No staff in my Department have applied for leave under the Parental Leave Directive.
	However, the Department is committed to helping its staff achieve a better balance between their home, family obligations and their work. Parental leave can play an important part in achieving this.

Press Office

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people are employed in her Department's press office; and how many were employed on 2 May 1997.

Helen Liddell: The Scotland Office was established in its present form on 1 July 1999. Four staff are currently employed in the Department's press office.

Secondments

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many individuals have been seconded to her Department from (a) the private sector, (b) NGOs and (c) other, in each case listing (i) from which organisation and (ii) dates of secondments in (A) 200102 and (B) 200203.

Helen Liddell: Two individuals were seconded to my Department from the Bank of Scotland in 2002, and two individuals were seconded from the House of Lords, one in 2001 and one in 2002.

Secondments

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many civil servants have been seconded from her Department to (a) the private sector, (b) NGOs and (c) other, broken down by (i) grade of civil servants seconded, (ii) location and (iii) dates of secondments in each year since 19902000.

Helen Liddell: No civil servants have been seconded from my Department to the private sector, NGOs or elsewhere.

Sickness Absence

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many staff in her Department were on long term sick leave in each of the last five years.

Helen Liddell: The Scotland Office was established in its present form on 1 July 1999. Since that date, only one member of staff has had a period of long-term sick leave.

TREASURY

European Central Bank

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the European Union about the establishment of a smaller committee of the European Central bank for setting interest rates.

Ruth Kelly: The recommendation on the voting modalities of the European Central bank's governing Council was discussed by ECOFIN on 7 March 2003. The Council, in the composition of Heads of State or Government, adopted a decision on the voting modalities of the European Central bank on 21 March 2003.

Futurebuilders Fund

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the objectives of the Futurebuilders fund; on what criteria its funds are to be allocated; and how voluntary and community groups can apply.

Paul Boateng: Objectives and proposals for use of the Futurebuilders fund are set out in the consultation document published on 30 April, which is available in the House Library. The fund manager will make details of how voluntary and community organisations can apply available when the fund comes on stream.

Manufacturing

Ben Chapman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps is he taking to support manufacturing in the North West.

John Healey: Manufacturers globally are facing difficult times as the world economy slows. This Government remains committed to delivering a stable macroeconomic environment which will allow businesses to plan, invest and grow, whilst at the same time taking a range of measures to boost Productivity, Enterprise and Skills.
	In particular, corporation tax is now lower than in any major industrialised country. Cuts in capital gains tax mean the UK's CGT regime will be more favourable than the US's since April. RD tax credits for large companies will provide an important boost to UK manufacturing and Regional development Agencies have been created to drive growth in every region.
	The North West has a forward-looking RDA, pioneering new approaches to better co-ordination and delivery of business support and workforce development, and to working more closely with universities. The North West development Agency has helped create the UK's first regional Science  Industry Council, helping to finance science-led projects in bio-manufacturing and the creation of a world-class science and technology university hub in Manchester. The NWDA has also been allocated 991 million for the three years to 200506 to play a key role in driving economic development and regeneration across the region.

Tax Credits

Michael Howard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were employed by the Inland Revenue to process applications for (a) child tax credit and (b) working tax credit in each month since April 2002.

Dawn Primarolo: The numbers of staff employed by the Inland Revenue on processing claims to new tax credits in the year to 31 March 2003 were as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 September 2002 19 
			 October 2002 978 
			 November 2002 1,941 
			 December 2002 2,578 
			 January 2003 3,455 
			 February 2003 4,336 
			 March 2003 4,502 
		
	
	The figures quoted are monthly full time equivalents.

Tax Credits

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the amount he will collect in (a) income tax and (b) national insurance from people entitled to one or both of the new child and working tax credits in (i) 200304 and (ii) 200405.

Dawn Primarolo: The estimated liabilities for those expected to receive Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit or both are given in the table. The income tax liabilities exclude the negative tax element of the tax credits
	
		 billion
		
			  200304 200405 
		
		
			 Income tax 14.5 15.7 
			 Employee and self-employed national insurance contributions 7.0 7.4

Tax Credits

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much of the expenditure on each of the new personal tax credits in (a) 200304 and (b) 200405 will be defined as (i) negative taxation and (ii) public expenditure.

Dawn Primarolo: The estimates are given in the table.
	
		 billion
		
			  200304 200405 
		
		
			 Child tax credit   
			 Negative taxation 2.6 3.0 
			 Public expenditure 5.5 8.5 
			
			 Working tax credit   
			 Negative taxation 0.6 0.7 
			 Public expenditure 2.4 2.6

Tax Credits

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the Answer by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Work and Pensions on 2 April 2003, Official Report, column 721W, on benefits, for what reasons information on the number of individuals eligible for (a) working tax credit and (b) child tax credit is not available.

Michael Howard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of households eligible for (a) child tax credit, (b) working tax credit and (c) both.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 1 May 2003
	Reliable information on the eligible population for the Working and Child Tax Credits will not be available until survey data for 200304 has been produced and analysed.

Tax Credits

Graham Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 8 May, Official Report, columns 7912W, on Tax Credits, which Inland Revenue offices have made interim payments of child tax credit; and how many payments there were and what their value was, broken down by office.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 13 May 2003
	In the vast majority of cases, special arrangements for payment of Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit are not necessary.
	Where, exceptionally, a payment is due but has not, for some reason been received, all local Inland Revenue Enquiry Offices have the ability to issue same day interim payments. Collated figures for the number and value of interim payments of Child Tax Credit are not readily available.

Tax Credits

Michael Howard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has set a deadline for the payment of all overdue tax credits.

Dawn Primarolo: The Revenue has set up tax credit awards for all claims made by 25 April or, if not, it is because more information is needed from claimants or further checks are required before a decision is made. Over 3.3 million awards are being paid. This includes the 2 million families opting to get their money every 4 weeks, who were sent their first payment of tax credits by Friday 2 May, as planned.

ADVOCATE-GENERAL

Departmental Catering Services

John Bercow: To ask the Advocate General what the cost was of (a) the in-house canteen and (b) other catering services provided by the Department in 2002.

Lynda Clark: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given today by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland, Official Report, column 486W.

Departmental Invoices

John Bercow: To ask the Advocate General if she will list the occasions on which her Department failed to pay valid invoices within 30 days or after the agreed credit period in the financial year 200102.

Lynda Clark: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given today by my right. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland, Official Report, column 486W.

Departmental Expenditure

John Bercow: To ask the Advocate General what her estimate is of the expenditure of her Department on newspapers, magazines and periodicals in 2002.

Lynda Clark: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given today by my right. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland, Official Report, column 486W.

Departmental Expenditure

John Bercow: To ask the Advocate General what the running costs in 2002 were of (a) her private offices, separately identifying expenditure on staff, and (b) her Department.

Lynda Clark: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given today by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland, Official Report, column 486W.

Market Research

John Bercow: To ask the Advocate General what expenditure has been incurred by her (a) Department, (b) agencies and (c) non-departmental bodies in 2002 on (i) opinion polling, (ii) focus groups and (iii) other forms of market research; and if she will list the surveys commissioned and the purpose of each.

Lynda Clark: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given today by my right. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland, Official Report, column 486W.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Fire Service College

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether his Department has received the report of the task group established to consider the future of the Fire Service College.

Nick Raynsford: Yes. It is under active consideration and I hope to comment shortly.

Former Council Houses

Linda Perham: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what measures are in place regarding companies buying homes from former council tenants and then letting or selling them at market prices.

Tony McNulty: There is nothing to prevent former council tenants from selling the homes that they purchased under the Right to Buy scheme to whomever they wish. They must repay all or part of the discount they received if they resell within three years of buying. The Government's draft Housing Bill, published on 31 March 2003, proposes to extend this period to five years and to change the basis on which discount is to be repaid from the current flat rate to a percentage of the resale value of the property. This will act as a further disincentive to companies that are profiteering from the Right to Buy scheme.

Home Improvement Agencies (North-east)

Jim Cousins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which home improvement agencies he supports in the north-east region.

Tony McNulty: Within the area covered by the Government Office for the north-east region, the following Home Improvement Agencies are supported:
	North Tyneside
	Newcastle-upon-Tyne
	Gateshead
	Derwentside
	Easington
	Sedgefield
	Hartlepool
	Darlington
	Middlesbrough

Housing

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether he will withdraw the recommendation of his Planning Inspectors that Cambridgeshire County Council's Structure Plan should consider the development of up to 1,000 houses on land west of Trumpington Road.

Tony McNulty: The Panel of Inspectors who considered the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Structure Plan, although appointed by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister, is independent and makes recommendations to the strategic planning authorities as promoters of the plan. It is for the strategic planning authorities to consider the panel's report and to give reasons if they do not propose to modify their plan in accordance with the panel's recommendations. They must then publish modifications to the plan offering stakeholders the opportunity to comment upon the modifications. GO-East will be responding to the consultation on behalf of my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister and I would urge anyone with an interest to make their views on the proposed modifications known to the strategic planning authorities by 17 June.

Housing

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment is made when assessing capital housing allowances to Islington of the council's income from the sale of buildings that could be used for housing purposes; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The framework for allocation of capital resources to English local authorities no longer includes specific adjustments to reflect differences in authorities' capacity to fund capital expenditure from receipts arising from sales of housing and other assets. New arrangements are being introduced for allocation of resources for housing investment by local authorities and housing associations. These will increasingly be directed at regionally identified strategic housing priorities; decisions on allocations will reflect how the available resources can be best used to complement housing investment funded from authorities' own resources, including housing capital receipts, and from other funding streams.

Planning

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what guidelines he issues on independent scrutiny of local planning authorities in the area of conditions attached to planning applications.

Tony McNulty: None. Conditions are imposed at the discretion of local planning authorities to enable planning permission to be granted. The applicant has a right of appeal to my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister where a local planning authority grants permission subject to conditions.

Planning

Andrew Bennett: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of recent trends in the length of public planning inquiries.

Tony McNulty: A recent analysis of inquiries held in the last five years revealed that 88 per cent. were scheduled to last for up to one week, 8 per cent. between one and two weeks, 2 per cent. between two and three weeks. The remaining 2 per cent. were scheduled to last four weeks or more. The analysis covered all planning inquiries (ie both delegated appeals and Secretary of State cases).
	Figures for actual sitting days are not available but would be unlikely to vary significantly from the estimate.
	There has been no significant change in trends relating to the duration of inquiries during this period. Despite increasing appeal numbers the proportion proceeding by the inquiry method has actually fallen in the last four years.

Social Exclusion and Urban Policy Units

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many research projects the (a) Social Exclusion Unit and (b) Urban Policy Unit commissioned (i) in 200304 and (ii) 200203; and what the criteria for selection of each project were.

Barbara Roche: The numbers of research projects commissioned is as follows:
	
		
			  200203 200304(11) 
		
		
			 Social Exclusion Unit 13 3 
			 Urban Policy 26 1 
		
	
	(11) to date
	The criteria for selecting projects for inclusion in the Office's research programmes is that they meet policy requirements. All of the Office's programmes of research are agreed by Ministers.

Social Exclusion and Urban Policy Units

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when the (a) Social Exclusion Unit and (b) Urban Policy Unit were formally established.

Barbara Roche: The Social Exclusion Unit was formally established in December 1997. The Urban Policy Unit was formally established in January 2001.

Travellers

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the (a) number and (b) location are of sites for travelling people in each county; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister publishes an annual count of local authority authorised sites in England, which is broken down into each local authority area. Privately run sites are not included in the list.
	A copy of the latest local authority Gypsy sites list is available in the Libraries of the House.

Vacant Government Buildings

Vincent Cable: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list vacant government-owned buildings, broken down by constituency; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Boateng: I have been asked to reply.
	Information on vacant government-owned buildings is held centrally by the Office of Government Commerce. However, this information is not broken down in the format requested and could not be reconstructed by constituency without incurring disproportionate cost.

Waste Management

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the effect of his policy of encouraging development on brownfield sites upon the availability of sites for waste management activities.

Tony McNulty: Planning Policy Guidance note 10, 'Planning and Waste Management', explains how the land-use planning system can contribute to sustainable waste management. The planning system should enable adequate provision to be made for waste management facilities in appropriate locations and waste planning authorities should carefully consider the siting of waste facilities in relation to existing and, where possible, potential surrounding land-uses.
	Planning authorities, when preparing their development plans, should consider the land-use requirements of the infrastructure and services needed to support their communities. They should ensure that sufficient land is identified to meet those needs.

Waste Management

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether his Department monitors the rate of refusal of planning permission for schemes concerned with waste management.

Tony McNulty: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not formally monitor the refusal rates for planning applications for waste management facilities. Statistics concerning the treatment of planning applications related to county matters (those concerned predominantly with mineral workings and waste disposal, handled by the counties in the two tier shire authority areas and the London boroughs, metropolitan districts, unitary districts and national park authorities in other areas) are prepared on a quarterly basis. For such county matter applications decided in the October 2002-December 2002 quarter, the refusal rate in relation to waste disposal applications was 7 per cent., compared to 8 per cent. for all county matter decisions. The overall refusal rate for all planning applications has been around 12 per cent. to 13 per cent. for several years.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Democratic Republic of Congo

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports the Government have received since 1 January 2002 from (a) international governmental organisations, (b) international NGOs and (c) other sources, regarding the supply of Hawk jet spare parts to the Democratic Republic of Congo; what the content was of the reports; what action has been taken; and if he will make a statement

Jack Straw: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office received many reports from international governmental organisations, international NGOS and other sources. To the best of our knowledge only one of these refers to the supply of Hawk jet spare parts to the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is the report of the UN Expert Panel on the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources in the Democratic Republic of Congo (the Panel) published on 15 October 2002. It is available on the internet at: http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=S/2002/1146.
	We supported and developed a new mandate for the Panel, asking them to provide evidence supporting the allegations in their report of 15 October 2002. We have asked the Panel for information about the supply of Hawk jet spare parts, but have not yet received it. We continue to repeat our requests for this information.
	There is an EU arms embargo against the DRC. We condemn the sale or supply of arms to DRC, whether from a European country or otherwise, while this embargo is in place.

Zimbabwe

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government has taken to investigate the allegations that British-made spares for Hawk aircraft were shipped to the Zimbabwean Airforce in contravention of sanctions against Zimbabwe; and what the results were of the investigations.

Jack Straw: The UN Expert Panel on the Illegal Exploitation of the Natural Resources of the Democratic Republic of Congo (the Panel) published a report on 15 October 2002. In it the Panel alleged that British made Hawk jet spare parts were supplied to Zimbabwe in contravention of EU sanctions. The UK Government takes these allegations seriously. We have ascertained: that there was no application for a licence to export these goods to Zimbabwe; and that HM Customs have no information about the export of these goods from the UK. In order to follow up this allegation, and others, we supported a new mandate for the Panel to provide the Security Council and UN member states with information supporting the Panel's allegations. The Panel has begun its work, and we have specifically asked them for information relating to the sale of British made Hawk jet spare parts to Zimbabwe. We have not yet received this information from the Panel. We are repeating our request.

Framework Convention for Tobacco Control

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions his Department is having with (a) the World bank and (b) the German Government regarding the contents of the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control.

Denis MacShane: There have been no regular discussions between the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the World bank about the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. However, other Whitehall Departments have had discussions with the World bank on this subject. Officials in our embassies in the EU and in the UK Permanent Representation to the EU have been in frequent contact with colleagues from other EU member states, including Germany, in an effort to secure the adoption of the text of the Convention.

Indonesia

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made to the Government of Indonesia concerning human rights and a peace process in Aceh; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: We regularly raise with the Indonesian authorities the importance of upholding and promoting human rights and religious freedom throughout the country. When my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary visited Indonesia in January he offered human rights training for a number of Indonesian Supreme Court Judges. This has now been undertaken and we are positively considering a request for further training in this area.
	The EU, and other co-chairs of the Tokyo Preparatory Conference on Peace and Reconstruction in Aceh, have issued statements in the past week expressing our deep concern at the possible breakdown of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement in Aceh, and urging both sides to resume political dialogue.
	We remain convinced that a long-term solution to the Aceh problem can only be achieved through political negotiation.

Iraq

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how British forces applied the Geneva conventions covering protection of (a) hospitals and (b) cultural assets in Iraq in the period following the immediate end of hostilities.

Adam Ingram: I have been asked to reply.
	The aim of coalition forces is to create and maintain a stable and secure situation in Iraq. As soon as it was judged safe, forces were assigned to secure specific medical and cultural sites. This tasking will continue until the people of Iraq are able to assume responsibility for that security.

Iraq

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussion he has had with US counterparts about the engagement of Dyncorp to provide security operatives to Iraq.

Mike O'Brien: None.

Iraq

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the whereabouts and situation of the Kuwaiti prisoners of war held captive in Iraq after the Gulf War of 1991.

Mike O'Brien: Sadly, we have no further information on the Kuwaiti missing. When information becomes available it will be made public as quickly as possible.

Iraq

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will set up a facility via the British Embassy in Iraq for people to get a message about their health and safety to relatives in the UK.

Mike O'Brien: The British Office Baghdad is staffed by a small team and consequently can operate only in a limited capacity. As the situation stabilises, we would hope to increase staffing of the office and extend the range of services on offer, in line with other diplomatic missions. However, people in Iraq can send 'safe and well' messages to relatives via the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Relatives outside Iraq can send such messages via the ICRC's special website (www.familylinks.icrc.org).

Russia

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations his Department has made to the Government of Russia on the human rights of ethnic minorities.

Denis MacShane: We regularly raise the issue of racial discrimination with the Russian authorities who have acknowledged that racism and extremism is a problem in Russia. Most recently during our bilateral Human Rights talks in September 2002 and March 2003, which included discussion of the situation of Chechens and Meskhetian Turks.

Syria

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when (a) he, (b) one of his ministerial colleagues and (c) a delegation from his Department last visited Syria; what discussions took place; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Syrian authorities on (a) bilateral relations and (b) the Middle East.

Mike O'Brien: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not visited Syria during his term in office. He last spoke to Syrian Foreign Minister Shara'a on 11 April 2003, when their discussion focussed on Iraq and the Arab/Israel dispute. The Foreign Secretary also looked forward to building on bilateral relations. My meeting with President Al-Assad in Damascus, on 14 April 2003, focussed on the same issues. The UK remains committed to a policy of constructive and, where necessary, critical engagement with Syria. This allows us to support reform while maintaining a robust dialogue on issues of concern including her attitude to Iraq, support for Palestinian rejectionist groups, WMD and human rights.

Turkey

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of Turkey's progress on meeting the criteria for EU membership as defined by the European Council in Copenhagen in 1993 on (a) human rights, (b) treatment of minorities and (c) the role of the army in political life.

Denis MacShane: The European Commission's 2002 Regular Report on Turkey, published last October, described the progress that Turkey had made towards complying with the Copenhagen political criteria. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary agreed on a revised Accession Partnership for Turkey setting out priorities for reform, at the General Affairs and External Relations Council on 14 April 2003. The Turkish Government continue to pass significant legislative reform packages and show the political determination for which they were praised at the Copenhagen European Council. A sixth legislative reform package has been announced and will be deposited in the Turkish Parliament soon. We continue to strongly support Turkey's EU candidature both bilaterally through our UK/Turkey Action Plan, and as part of the EU.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Children Act

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 29 April 2003, Official Report, column 351W, on Command Paper 5778, which parts of the Children Act 1989 are failing to be implemented effectively in his Department as set out in paragraph 2.22 of Command Paper 5778.

Jacqui Smith: I have been asked to reply.
	Paragraph 2.22 of Command Paper 5778 does not state that the Children Act 1989 is not being implemented effectively, and neither is it meant to imply that this is the case.
	As the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Hilary Benn) noted in the answer that he gave on 29 April 2003, Official Report, column 35152W, the Children Act is a shared responsibility across Government and our aim, as set out in the Command Paper, is to increase the range of family support provisions that can be made available through the Children Act, as part of our response to tackling anti-social behaviour.

Asylum Seekers

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his policy is on advising asylum seekers (a) at first interview and (b) later on other alternative applications open to them including an application to work in the UK.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 15 May 2003
	It would not be appropriate to provide an asylum seeker with advice on any other applications they may wish to make at this stage. The Immigration Rules attach an entry clearance requirement to a number of categories of leave. Similarly, there will often be a requirement, where the period of leave is not in a category leading to settlement, that the applicant is willing to leave the United Kingdom at the expiry of the period of leave, which a person who has applied for asylum is unlikely to do.
	Asylum seekers are not able to apply for work in the United Kingdom. Employers must seek work permits for individuals, and asylum seekers are not permitted to take up employment.

Child Prisoners

Claire Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many of the children in Stoke Heath prison are subject to (a) section 20 and (b) a full care order under section 31 of the Children Act 1989;
	(2)  how many of the children in Parc prison are subject to (a) section 20 and (b) a full care order under section 31 of the Children Act 1989;
	(3)  how many of the children in (a) Brockhill, (b) Brinsford, (c) Wetherby, (d) Lancaster Farms, (e) New Hall and (f) Onley prisons are subject to (i) section 20 and (ii) a full care order under section 31 of the Children Act 1989;
	(4)  how many of the children in (a) Ashfield, (b) Styal, (c) Thorn Cross, (d) Werrington, (e) Huntercombe, (f) Holloway, (g) Hollesley Bay and Warren Hill, (h) Hindley, (i) Feltham, (j) Eastwood Park, (k) Castington and (l) Bullwood Hall prisons are subject to (i) section 20 and (ii) a full care order under section 31 of the Children Act 1989.

Paul Goggins: The Prison Service does not hold information on the numbers of children and young people in each of its establishments who are subject to section 31 of the Children Act 1989 or who are accommodated by a local authority under section 20 of the Act before being received into custody. This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, the Department of Health collects aggregate figures annually for those subject to section 31 care orders and as of 31 March 2002 (the latest date for which figures are currently available) the Prison Service was accommodating 130 such children and young people.

Criminal Injuries Compensation

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for compensation were submitted to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and how many applications for compensation were rejected in each year.

Paul Goggins: The information requested is as follows.
	
		
			 Financialyear Applications received Applications rejected Awards made Total resolutions 
		
		
			 199899 78,651 32,762 39,038 71,800 
			 19992000 78,742 33,312 37,553 70,865 
			 200001 76,501 30,451 34,343 64,794 
			 200102 78,202 31,938 37,103 69,041 
			 200203 70,722 34,883 40,131 75,014 
		
	
	The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) advise that these figures relate to cases resolved under the tariff-based scheme without an appeal.

Criminal Injuries Compensation

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the running costs were of the (a) Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority and (b) Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals Panel; and how much each body awarded in each of the last five years.

Paul Goggins: The information requested is as follows.
	
		 million
		
			 Financialyear CICA running costs CICAP running costs Total value of awards made by CICA under tariff scheme Total value of awards made by CICAP under tariff scheme 
		
		
			 199899 22.49 2.45 107.39 3.55 
			 19992000 19.62 3.85 108.29 6.91 
			 200001 22.01 5.99 100.03 10.39 
			 200102 23.18 6.62 113.54 11.88 
			 200203 24.20 5.68 141.37 14.68 
		
	
	CICA advise that the figures in the table show the total value of awards for which acceptances were recorded in the year.

Criminal Justice IT Systems

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 24 March 2003, Official Report, column 23W, on criminal justice IT systems, when he expects the criminal justice system IT delivery plan to be presented to ministers; and when the electronic progress report will be available on the criminal justice IT website.

Michael Wills: The Cabinet CJS (IT) sub-Committee has now approved the Criminal Justice System delivery plan subject to officials reviewing elements of the programme costs. Once this has been completed the electronic progress report will be published on the Criminal Justice Information Technology (CJIT) website (www.cjit.gov.uk) in the summer. I will write to the hon. Member at this time.

Criminal Offences

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many criminal offences have been abolished since 1997.

Paul Goggins: No central records are kept of abolished offences. The information could be provided only at disproportionate cost. For example, an offence may be re-enacted or amended and, once identified, a detailed assessment would be required in each case.

Female Prisoners

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department until what age a women serving a prison sentence in England and Wales is allowed to have a young child with them while they are in prison.

Paul Goggins: There are no restrictions on the age of mothers who have young children with them in prison but the mother and baby units in prisons are designed to accommodate young children up to about 18 months. The position in any particular case depends on an assessment of what is in the best interests of the child.

Female Prisoners

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women who are serving a prison sentence in England and Wales for periods of time up to (a) one year, (b) two years, (c) three years, (d) four years and (e) five years have children under the age of 14.

Paul Goggins: There is no routinely collected data on the number of women prisoners who have young children. However, a study of women prisoners and their work in custody, published in 2000, found that 66 per cent. had dependent children under the age of 18 (out of a sample of 567 sentenced women).
	Another Home Office study found broadly similar results: from a large sample of imprisoned women and mothers, published in 1997, 60 per cent. of female prisoners, sentenced and unsentenced, had dependent children under the age of 18.

Female Prisoners

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects all girl prisoners to be removed from prison and placed in local authority care.

Paul Goggins: The commissioning and purchasing of secure accommodation for under-18s, and the placement of most individual offenders, in that age group, are the responsibility of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales.
	On 18 February 2003 the Board announced its intention to remove all under-17-year-old girls from Prison Service accommodation during 2003 and to place them instead in secure training centres and local authority security children's homes. As of 12 May, there were no 15-year-old girls in Prison Service accommodation, and 16 16-year-olds.
	This is in line with the commitment given by my right hon. Friend the then Home Secretary (Mr. Straw) in March 1999 when he said that he intended to use the greater flexibility provided by the detention and training order to place sentenced 15 and 16-year-old girls in available non-Prison Service accommodation. The detention and training order came into force in April 2000.

Female Prisoners

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) 15-year-old, (b) 16-year-old and (c) 17-year-old girls were (i) held in prison, (ii) cautioned for offences and (iii) found guilty of offences in each year since 1997.

Paul Goggins: The numbers of 15-year-old, 16-year-old and 17-year-old females who were held in Prison Service establishments, cautioned and convicted of offences in each year since 1997 are given in the tables.
	
		Held in Prison Service Establishments (as of June)
		
			 Year Age 15 Age 16 Age 17 
		
		
			 1997 9 12 50 
			 1998 7 20 52 
			 1999 7 22 57 
			 2000 3 28 58 
			 2001 7 12 71 
			 2002 9 27 85 
		
	
	
		Cautioned
		
			 Year Age 15 Age 16 Age 17 
		
		
			 1997 4,651 4,307 3,761 
			 1998 5,449 4,621 3,981 
			 1999 5,173 4,230 3,794 
			 2000 5,357 4,077 3,248 
			 2001 5,518 4,262 3,254 
		
	
	
		Convicted
		
			 Year Age 15 Age 16 Age 17 
		
		
			 1997 1,802 2,613 3,564 
			 1998 2,009 2,991 3,885 
			 1999 2,252 2,616 3,811 
			 2000 2,312 2,692 3,526 
			 2001 2,485 2,746 3,623

Female Prisoners

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women serving a prison sentence in England and Wales have young children with them in prison.

Paul Goggins: On 28 April 2003 there were 44 women serving sentences who had young children with them in prison.

Inquests

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time taken was (a) in England and (b) in each local authority between the decision to hold an inquest and the opening of the inquest, in the last year for which figures are available.

Paul Goggins: The information requested is not held centrally, but I understand that a decision to hold an inquest can normally be taken within a few days of the report of the death. In 2001, in 88 per cent. of cases where coroners decided to hold an inquest, they issued certificates for the burial or cremation of the deceased within a week. In a further 9 per cent. of cases, certificates were issued within a month. In the remaining 2.5 per cent. of cases, authorisation to bury or cremate took longer. Such certificates would not be issued until after a decision to hold an inquest had been taken.

Leave to Remain

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his policy is in relation to (a) granting leave to remain and (b) the length of the period of leave in cases where an individual establishes a right to remain in the UK under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Beverley Hughes: Where a person is unable to demonstrate a claim for asylum or Humanitarian Protection but is able to demonstrate a claim under Article 8 of the ECHR, they will be granted Discretionary Leave. This is in line with the new procedures introduced on 1 April which replaced the exceptional leave system.
	A person granted Discretionary Leave will be granted leave for a period of up to three years, although a lesser period may be granted where the circumstances of the case suggest that this is appropriate. This period of leave will be renewable for a further three years. After a person has spent six years on Discretionary Leave on Article 8 grounds, they will be eligible to apply for settlement. All applications for further leave or settlement will be the subject of an active review.

Narrowing the Justice Gap Website

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reason the Persistent Offender Scheme section of the Narrowing the Justice Gap website is password protected.

Paul Goggins: The Persistent Offender section of the Narrowing the Justice Gap website is password protected because it contains operational guidance for use by criminal justice practitioners. The public access area of the Narrowing the Justice Gap site contains some information about the Persistent Offender Scheme.

Prison and Court Escort Services

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how much was spent on prison and court escort services in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many prisoners escaped (a) at court and (b) while in transit between court and prison in each of the last five years;
	(3)  how many operational staff were employed by each of the private contractors responsible for prison and court escort services in each of the last five years;
	(4)  what penalties have been imposed on the companies responsible for prisoner escorts in each of the last five years; and what the reason was for the penalty in each case;
	(5)  what percentage of prisoners appearing at court arrived on time in the last year for which figures are available.

Paul Goggins: The table shows the number of escapes from escort contractors while the prisoner was either in court or in transit:
	
		
			 Escape 198899 19992000 200001 200102 200203 
		
		
			 From court Not available(12) Not available(12) 45 38 27 
			 In transit Not available(12) Not available(12) 11 2 4 
			 Total 55 58 56 40 31 
		
	
	(12) Although the total number of escapes for 198889 and 19992000 is available, specific information on whether the escape took place while the prisoner was in court or while in transit was not available until 200002.
	Expressed as a percentage of the national average of prisoners handled during 200202, 76.39 per cent. of prisoners were delivered contractually on time to courts and 86.61 per cent. were delivered to courts before the court start times.
	The table gives the level of payments made to contractors for the provision of the prisoner escort contracts service for the five years from 199899:
	
		
			 Year Amount paid () 
		
		
			 199899 93,291,529 
			 19992000 101,889,243 
			 200001 104,833,064 
			 200102 106,343,811 
			 200203 110,216,636 
		
	
	The table shows the total amount of financial remedies applied to the escort contractors since 1999:
	
		
			 Company Number of remedies applied Total value () 
		
		
			 Group 4 Court Services 1 60,000 
			 Premier Prison Services 1 36,000 
			 Securicor Custodial Services 2 500,000 
			 Reliance Custodial Services 2 25,000 
			 Totals 6 621,000 
		
	
	The table shows the average number of operational staff (excluding senior managers) employed on courts escorts services duties over each of the last five years by each of the escort contractors.
	
		
			  Group 4 (4)(13) Premier (2)(13) Securicor (1)(13) Reliance (1)(13) 
		
		
			 199899 1,522 738 848 390 
			 19992000 1,613 787 810 386 
			 200001 1,635 788 823 400 
			 200102 1,606 787 840 397 
			 200203 1,617 794 844 396 
		
	
	(13) shows the number of contracts held by each company

Prisons

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many bullying incidents there were on girls aged 15 to 17 years in prison in each year since 1997.

Paul Goggins: All prisons have anti-bullying strategies. These are designed to detect incidents of bullying, confront and address the bullying behaviour and support the victim. Under these arrangements, the available information shows that since 1 March 2002, there have been 151 incidents concerning juvenile girls in prison.

Prisons

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for each year since 1997 the ratio of prison officers to prisoners for (a) the general prison population, (b) women prisoners and (c) girls aged between 15 and 17 years in prison.

Paul Goggins: The information is as follows:
	
		
			 Date Officers to all prisoners Officers to prisoners in female only establishments Officers to female juvenile prisoners (15 to 17 years) 
		
		
			 30 April 1997 1:2.49 1:1.67  
			 30 April 1998 1:2.60 1:1.84  
			 31 March 1999 1:2.50 1:1.74  
			 31 March 2000 1:2.48 1:2.26  
			 31 March 2001 1:2.51 1:2.29  
			 31 March 2002 1:2.76 1:2.63  
			 31 March 2003 1:2.81 1:2.35  
			 12 May 2003   1:1.27 
		
	
	Officers include prison officers, senior officers and principal officers. The Prison Service personnel database can only differentiate staff by establishment rather than individual units within establishments. Therefore, information relating to female prisoners can only be provided for establishments that only accommodate female prisoners.
	There are no establishments that only hold juvenile female prisoners and therefore staffing numbers are not available centrally. A manual count of female juvenile prisoners and officers responsible for them has been carried out but no historical staffing data are available.

Prisons

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Director General of the Prison Service is responsible for the operation of private prisons in England and Wales.

Paul Goggins: On 6 May 2003, operational responsibility for the nine private prisons in England and Wales was transferred from the Director General of the Prison Service to the Office for Contracted Prisons, a newly created unit within the Home Office, under the Commissioner for Correctional Services.

Prisons

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  which companies hold contracts to supply the Prison Service with meat products; and on what basis those contracts were awarded;
	(2)  whether meat products rejected by suppliers for sale to the general population are being supplied to the prison service for consumption in HM Prisons.

Paul Goggins: holding answer 8 May 2003
	The Prison Service currently contracts with two companies to supply meat products; Harry Yearsley Ltd. and N. H. Case Ltd. These companies supply products on a national basis and in competition with each other. Both companies were awarded contracts as a result of a competitive tendering action undertaken in strict adherence to European Union procurement regulations. The award was made on the basis of best value for money to the Prison Service, which took account of a range of evaluation criteria including price, quality, availability and the ability of the bidders to provide the requirements of the Service. All products supplied are fully compliant with all meat hygiene regulations including full product traceability.

Prisons

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners were moved from HM prisons and kept temporarily in police custody, broken down by (a) police authority and (b) month, in the period March 2002 to March 2003.

Paul Goggins: The information you have requested is not collated centrally and cannot be provided except at disproportionate expense.

Sexual Assault Referral Centres

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what direct financial support the Home Office gives to each of the sexual assault referral centres in England and Wales;
	(2)  whether it is Home Office policy that local police authorities should share in the costs of (a) establishing and (b) running sexual assault referral centres; and whether there has been a budget allocated to a police area for such a project;
	(3)  what Home Office policy is on whether sexual assault referral centres should be partly financed as to (a) capital setup costs and (b) running costs by primary care trusts; and what liaison he has with the Department of Health about such projects;
	(4)  what Home Office guidelines there are to assist in the establishment of policies and procedures for sexual assault referral centres;
	(5)  what policy the Home Office has to encourage the establishment of sexual assault referral centres in England and Wales;
	(6)  how many sexual assault referral centres there are in England and Wales; and how they are financed.

Paul Goggins: The Home Office is currently considering ways in which further support can be provided to victims of sexual crime. Possibilities under consideration include the use of Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs); rape crisis and other counselling and support services; national or local telephone helplines; and some combination of these. The Home Office will consider with the Department of Health and other government departments how best to take these complex issues forward.
	We believe there are currently at least six SARCs in England and Wales. Funding for these has been negotiated and agreed locally. For example, the pioneer SARC, St. Mary's Centre in Manchester, is funded jointly by the Greater Manchester Police and the Central Manchester and Children's University Hospitals National Health Service (NHS) Trust. The two REACH Centres in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Sunderland are jointly funded by Northumbria Police, the four local health authorities, and six local authorities.
	At present, no agreed process and criteria exist for the funding or setting up of SARCs and no Home Office guidance has been published on these matters. Most SARCs are currently jointly funded by the police and local health authorities, and neither the Home Office (except as outlined below) nor the Department of Health has allocated specific funding for SARCs.
	The Home Office has, however, provided some direct funding to certain SARCs. The Crime Reduction Programme (CRP) Violence against Women Initiative (VAWI) is an evidence-led programme which aims to find out which approaches and practices are effective in supporting victims and reducing incidents of domestic violence, rape and sexual assault. As part of this programme, some funding was allocated to three existing SARCs (St. Mary's in Manchester, REACH in Newcastle and STAR in West Yorkshire) to enable them to implement additional interventions to help support victims of rape and to improve their services. The funding was provided in July 2002 up to the end of March 2003.
	The Home Office commissioned Professor Liz Kelly from London Metropolitan University to evaluate the contribution of these three established SARCs towards supporting victims of rape and sexual assault and reducing attrition in the criminal justice system. An overview of the research is due to be published in the autumn of 2003. The Home Office will take Professor Kelly's findings into consideration when looking at ways in which further support can be provided to victims of sexual crime.
	At a recent seminar we discussed with the Department of Health a range of issues around service for sexual assault victims, including SARCs. We plan to discuss further.

Terrorism

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many suspected terrorists have been detained and for what periods under the Anti Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001.

David Blunkett: holding answer 15 May 2003
	I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Blackley (Graham Stringer) on 14 May 2003, Official Report, column 247W.

Terrorism

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications have been made by the Egyptian Government in the last six years for extradition to Egypt of suspected terrorists; and how many have succeeded.

David Blunkett: holding answer 15 May 2003
	There has been no such request from Egypt in the last six years.

Work-related Deaths

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to introduce new policies covering work-related deaths.

Paul Goggins: We are committed to reforming the law to increase corporate liability for manslaughter and will do so when parliamentary time allows. The results of the regulatory impact assessment are currently being studied and will influence any draft legislation.